By Venus C. Vega

The author is a pre-novice with the Columban Sisters
(www.columbansisters.org)

This reflection started with a very simple question, ‘What do you do in your place of ministry?’ ‘I clean leaves by the sackful’, I said. My workplace is in Marikina, about an hour’s ride from where I live. The Tuason Community Center Foundation, Inc is dedicated to empowering women and so most of the workers there are women who are considered poor and marginalized. Except for the few who do administrative work, the rest are non-professionals.

Cleaning leaves by the sackful

Once a week I go to work in the Center as part of my pre-novitiate formation program. One section in the Center is dedicated to the production of herbal medicine. This is where I was assigned. The first time I entered the room where I was to work, I saw nothing but sacks and sacks of dried leaves. My task was to clean the leaves – one by one. The more leaves I clean, the more capsules the workers can produce, and the more money they bring home to their families. My companions are fast workers; they produce as many as 1,000 capsules a day. Naturally, I was nervous the first few days at the Center. I was very slow in cleaning the leaves. I was very cautious. I was fingering each leaf carefully, afraid I might tear it up, as the leaves were very brittle. At the end of each day I felt very, very tired.

I belong

The author at work amidst leaves

The succeeding weeks things improved. I became more relaxed with the group. Little by little I got to know them by name, their husbands’ names and where they worked, how many children they had, where they went to school and so on. Needless to say, the more I talked with them the more I felt accepted and welcomed. My worries and fears on how to get to Marikina subsided. Looking back, I think what helped me to be more relaxed was the way we worked together. While we were busy cleaning, cutting and pulverizing the dried leaves we were chatting, laughing and listening to each other’s stories. During mealtime, we ate together and the story-telling continued with more laughter.

What’s in a leaf

As the weeks turned into months, I got to be more and more interested in what I was doing in the Center. I became more open in relating to everybody, from the administrators to the workers, women and men. By then I knew each one by name – why, even leaves had names! I realized that I was drying sambung and ampalaya leaves all this time. Before, the leaves were just leaves to me and I wasn’t interested in finding out their names. And as I hold in my hand each dry leaf, I realize how precious it is because it gives life to the people. The leaves I hold now are turned into medicinal capsules that heal the physical aches and pains of the sick. I also realized that these dry leaves are putting food on the table of many families and are sending many children to school.

Nurtured spirit

The workers at the Center are simple people with no high education, and yet they are happy. They have learned to love not only their work but most of all to love one another. The work in the center is tedious but the spirit of the people there is bubbling with life, joy and hope. They have endlessly challenged me to be more loving and understanding in all my relationships, to grow more deeply in God’s love and to nurture a spirit of life, joy and hope in my own community.  I am reminded of a prayer by Joyce Rupp and by way of ending this reflection on dry leaves I would like to share it with you:

We move so fast, God, and sometimes we see so little in our daily travels. Slow us down. Create in us a desire to pause. Help us to pursue moments of contemplation. Help us to see in a deeper way, to become more aware of what speaks to us, of beauty and truth.

Our inner eye gets misty, clouded over, dulled, we need to see in a new way, to dust off our heart, to perceive what is truly of value and to find a deeper meaning in our lives.

All of our ordinary moments are means of entering into a more significant relationship with you, God.

In the midst of those very common happenings, you are ready to speak your word of love to us, if only we will recognize your presence.

Teach us how to enjoy being. Encourage us to be present to the gifts that are ours. May we be more fully aware of what we see, taste, touch, hear and smell. May this awareness of our senses sharpen our perception of our everyday treasures and lead us to greater joy and gratitude.

Grant us the courage to be our true selves. Help us to let go of being overly concerned about what others think of us or how successful we are. May our inner freedom be strengthened and our delight in life be activated.

Life is meant to be celebrated, enjoyed, delighted in and embraced in all its mystery. Guide us to our inner child. Draw us to your playground of creation, God of life, so that we will live more fully. Amen.

You may write the author at:

Columban Sisters, 44 A Rosario Drive, Cubao, 1111 QUEZON CITY