Newspaper Page Text
Supplement to The Southern Cross, October 3, 1985
A supplement to Catholic newspapers,
published with grant assistance from Cath
olic Church Extension Society, by the Na
tional Catholic News Service, 1312 Massa
chusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.
20005. All contents copyright ® 1985 by
NC News Service.
Paths taken
and forsaken
to stand for and what qualities
they have developed which
may resemble those of Christ.
As they share their experiences,
adults begin to see that their life
entails a journey — one not only
tied to the past and present, but
“in the future too,’’ the religious
educator said.
Ms. Haldane makes it a point to
respect people’s needs and feel
ings. She never forces people: “I
challenge them to try new things
and to see that their journey is
uniquely theirs.’’
She concluded: “As an educator
all my life I’ve tried to assist peo
ple in finding hope that life has
significance and meaning.’’
(Ms. Bird is associate editor of
Faith Today.)
"Tell me about your religious journey,” educator
Jeon Haldane frequently asks her audience. In
terviewed by Katharine Bird, Haldane said adults
usually find the question unusual, but intriguing.
By Katharine Bird
NC News Service
Adults find “the image of life as
a journey very appealing,’’ said
religious educator Dr. Jean
Haldane. “It suggests there’s more
to me than meets the eye; there’s
a spiritual dimension.’’
The image of a journey also sug
gests to adults that “I’m moving
forward and I have choices; there
are paths taken and not taken,’’
she added in an interview.
Ms. Haldane, a British native, is
dean emeritus of the Episcopal
Lay Academy in San Francisco,
Calif , and lives in Seattle, Wash.
In seminars, she often asks peo
ple to “tell me about your
religious journey.’’ Adults usually
find the question unusual but
riveting.
She recalled a man who talked
about a painful work experience
where he felt he had been unfairly
treated. The man, who felt bitter
and demeaned, questioned God’s
justice.
But, in discussing the situation,
Ms. Haldane said, the man gained
an insight into his own journey of
faith, realizing that “God saw me
through that. I kept on trusting,
even though I was mad at God.’’
□ □ □
An educator who has worked
with adults for 30 years, Ms.
Haldane is convinced that every
Christian’s vocation grows from a
faith that continues to mature —
from a lifelong quest for
understanding.
She considers it important to
help adults draw connections bet
ween their faith and their or
dinary lives and to identify ways
they already are living as
Christians.
“The common thing I hear from
adults is ‘I’m not a good Chris
tian, ” Ms. Haldane added. She is
convinced many Christians don’t
realize that activities they already
are carrying out in their daily lives
are ways of putting their faith into
action.
Thus, she often asks people to
think of a person they have serv
ed and vice versa.
On reflection, she explained,
people begin to realize their
Christian role takes place “in
all of life: at home, at work,
in the community, with the
family and with strangers.’’
To help adults make con
nections between life and
faith, Ms. Haldane is apt to
use an exercise which moves
from the common human
journey to the particular
journey of each person. She
outlined four steps that are
part of this exercise.
She begins by asking people
to delve into their past history
— perhaps to describe their
position in the family as a
child — and then to ponder
what was good and what was
problematical about that ex
perience. The goal here, she
explained, is to build trust by
taking participants back to a
non-threatening experience.
Second, she asks par
ticipants: “What did you love
to do growing up?’’ This
elicits varied responses, “from
climbing trees, to sewing, to
pulling children out of a
canal.” Her aim is to help par
ticipants identify what they
enjoy doing. This may be
the beginning of identifying
our gifts and talents,
she explained.
The third step, Ms. Haldane
continued, is to think of a
transition time, some exper
ience when they changed. At
this point in the exer
cise, people often move
away from experiences of
the distant past to speak of a
more recent and “deeply
religious experience,” Ms.
Haldane said. Sometimes it in
volves the loss of a parent, a
child or a spouse.
Often people discover that
“the time of anguish was also
a time for growth in
understanding their faith,”
she said.
The fourth step involves
writing a personal obituary!
People usually react to this
step with hesitation, smiles
and uneasiness. But it has a
purpose: to get people to say
what they would like their life