Waiting and Planning

Lately, Christelle and I have been discussing how to make the transition from our present life into the School of Work and Prayer. Our first task is to gain skills and knowledge in spiritual growth and the teaching of the Carmelite Doctors of Prayer and in farming/self sufficiency skills/living. Basically, we need to go to a school of work and prayer before we start one.

We think it is best if we attend this prep-school of work and prayer in the St. Croix Valley since there is a wealth of friends, family, and acquaintances who can teach us all the skills we need. However, we need time (to practice and study these skills) and money (to keep us housed, clothed, and fed) to study.

Presently, I work 40 hours a week and have two full days off each week. One of those days is Sunday, a day we set aside for family and friends and Mass. That leaves one other day in which I am “free”. However, on this day I usually am doing house work, running errands, etc. It is not a day that I can devote to study. If I continue working 40 hours a week, when can I study?

Christelle is a homemaker and mother. She never really has “free” time, but what little she does have, she spends studying for a certification as a Christian Childbirth Educator. What can be done so that she could study for the School of Work and Prayer?

We see only three solutions:

1. I continue working 40 hours a week and we radically restructure our lives so that we have a small amount of time each week to devote to the School of Work and Prayer.

2. I work part-time and devote the extra time to the School of Work and Prayer.

3. I stop working for a wage and devote all my time the School of Work and Prayer.

Option one will keep us clothed, sheltered, and fed, but will not get us to the School of Work and Prayer for perhaps 5 or more years.

Options two and three might allow us to be ready to start the School of Work and Prayer within two years, but I don’t see how to stay clothed, sheltered, and fed in the mean time.

What advice do you have to offer?

Future Resource Base

Our Future Resource Base is a short list of the resources we will need to live our quality of life goals well into the future; 100 or more years into the future. Our two main resources will be the People who live and work on the School of Work and Prayer and the Land on which the School of Work and Prayer is located.

PEOPLE:
We will be known as peacemakers, trustworthy, good listeners, compassionate, encouraging, wise; people of faith and prayer: who live out gospel poverty and grow in holiness; and who live in harmony with the land: knowledgeable and capable stewards.

LAND:
Many generations from now, our land will continue to provide for the food, clothing, and shelter needs of its inhabitants with fertile fields and pastures. It will have a diverse woodland community with thriving wildlife. The water will be clean and clear, healthy enough for people to drink from. Mineral and energy cycles will be optimized so that human, animal, and plant communities will thrive. Our land will be a place of beauty and refreshment.

Forms of Production

Forms of production refer to those things that must be produced for us to live the Quality of Life Goals we outlined earlier. Forms of production are the end products and NOT the means by which we produce them. Later we will decide how best to produce the following items below.

LAND abundant in the natural resources necessary to feed, clothe, shelter its inhabitants and visitors for years to come – especially, sources of renewable energy, lumber (and stone?) suitable for building, clean water, soils suitable for raising crops and pasturelands for livestock; with wild spaces that can shelter, feed, and water wild animals and plants for beauty, hunting, and gathering; with sufficient space for each household and guests to have their own private home, in peaceful, quiet surroundings; with room for expansion.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, RAW MATERIALS, TOOLS & IMPLEMENTS necessary to accomplish the above.

EDUCATIONAL PROGAMS, FACILITIES & STAFF able to produce persons who:
-- understand the normal process of growth in prayer and who pray, growing ever more deeply united with God.
-- grow closer to God through the work of each moment .
-- can effectively feed, clothe, & shelter themselves.
-- are healthy in mind, heart, & body.
-- can bring forth and nurture healthy babies and children, if God so blesses them.

A comprehensive EDUCATIONAL PLAN for the Hagen children capable of producing young adults who are:
-- well-rounded citizens of the world community.
-- devoted daughters (and brothers) of the church.
-- and faith-filled children of God.

A comprehensive HEALTH CARE PLAN for the community residents from conception to natural death, with emphasis on preventative health practices and on personally tending the sick and infirm; with the ability to provide basic first aid.

A community funded HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM, with access to quality health care providers.

A place for worship, including an ADORATION CHAPEL, with clergy available to meet the spiritual needs of the school’s residents.

A LIBRARY full of riches for mind, heart, and spirit.

Sufficient FREE TIME for families to form strong attachments, for the community to interact and celebrate, and for meeting the needs of guests and visitors.

A BALANCE OF WORK AND REST; with sufficient leisure time, facilities, instruments and tools for arts and crafts to flourish.

The school and each household would have a reputation for HOSPITALITY (be a “homely home”) with a tradition of welcoming and caring for all, especially children, the weak, the lonely, and the poor.

A commitment to treating everyone with RESPECT; including an environment where one can feel free to speak one’s mind, knowing one will be listened to; where one is appreciated and one’s talents are encouraged, with practical help whenever possible; where one will both pray and be prayed for; where one expects and receives honest and loving conversation and interactions with others.

A CONNECTION with the greater society, for giving and receiving.

A peaceful TRUST in our Heavenly Father, in good times and in bad.

Sufficient FINANCIAL RESOURCES to accomplish the above debt-free, including sufficient income (from tuition, fees, farm products, and hand crafts) for permanent staff to live and work on-site.