The morning started with coffee, of course. And that moving film documentary by Ditsi Carolino. Entitled Riles, it showed me family life as it unfolds near the tracks. It was a breakfast for thought. A hearty meal to warm my frozen sensibilities: blind to poverty and insensitive to the plight of others.

After lunch, our group convened a workshop meant to draw out a thrust for the school year. A reading of the day's Gospel was reread and we were asked to immerse ourselves in an atmosphere of reflective silence.We were to draw out a word or a phrase that would seem to be a perfect thrust for the coming academic year. And then the group will deliberate until a perfect phrase would come out. We will draw out a few words, take in a few and then discard a whole new idea. Eventually, we came up with these:

1. Yes, Lord.
2. "Come follow Me." "Yes, Lord."
3. Yes, Lord we love you... we will follow.
4. To love, to serve, to follow... Yes, Lord!

What followed were suggestions to take of a word or two, proposals to merge an idea with this sentence, deliberations on the appropriateness of the chosen punctuations and many more. Until we came up with these two:

1. Yes, Lord we love you. We will follow and serve you.

2. Yes, Lord I love you. I will follow and serve you.

This went on to be the most heated of the sessions. While some would emphasize on the strength of the "I" (advocating the personal calling and the personal response in one's vocation), others would emphasize on "We" (advocating the social dimension of service).

I had my share in the pouring out of opinion -- really very afraid that as a new member of the group, I might create an impression. Nonetheless, each of us were compelled to speak out our convictions. And each defeated conviction will have to succumb and surrender with a spirit of detachment.

The thrust workshop ended out with a perfect thrust. But it was clear that it did not come out the easily. We had an hour and a half of heated debate on the importance of "I" and "we" in the following of the Lord.

Finally, it was the thrust with a rich social dimension that won. But not I know it did not come out final without us realizing that the "I" is a crucial part of the following and will always be part of the "We."

This was a moving day for me. I experienced firsthand how the Spirit murmurs and whispers. My unbelieving heart finally yielded. The hard clay in me began to be flexible. I realized, I do not need coffee to be awake.