Writing, Parenting, and Working in the Mess: Authentic Spirituality and Social Justice

Greek Easter is over now, and for the third year running, I haven’t made it up to the Twin Cities (where the closest Greek Orthodox Church is) to celebrate Holy Week. I miss everything about it, from fasting to the beautiful services to the Easter vigil and passing of the Easter light. But, going to the Twin Cities was lonely in its own way—I don’t know the Greeks there, have no connection to the place. I miss my family, more so at this time of year than any other. Still, from the beginning of my coming out process in college—and the beginning, too, of my becoming a critical thinker whose beliefs shifted dramatically—I have felt equally comforted and ill at ease when surrounded by the iconography of my youth. This year, I decided to have people over for Greek food and socializing, and I had a steady stream from 5:00 until 9:30, with waves of young families early on and college students at the end of the night. It was good to remember that even if I’ve had to give up some of my rituals...

Ever since I complained about S’s education, things have gone downhill. Not that the IEP has ever been followed—but before, there was at least the assumption that it should be. Since I started asking questions about S’s education, the case manager has completely stopped doing her job. So, S has been continuously confused about assignments—even though her IEP states that I will receive assignments via e-mail as early as possible on Monday morning. As a result, S doesn’t always get work in on time, which is penalized—even though she has a week’s extension on assignments in her IEP. I can’t get a straight answer about anything via e-mail: when I asked recently about assignments, her case manager suggested I have S should write them down, even though we both know she has never been able to do so accurately. After I reminded her of what S’s IEP says, she sends a list of assignments each week—but the list is incomplete, or incorrect. In the meantime, S was trying to get through this computer...