The Scroll

Every Sunday, I make the hour-long trek home to visit my family and enjoy my parents’ delicious home cooking.

One Sunday, as my parents rummaged around the kitchen preparing dinner, I kept hearing, “Bailey, no! . . . Off the counter! . . . Bailey! That’s not for you; don’t eat that! . . . Down, Bailey!” Our one-year-old red lab puppy, Bailey, loves helping out in the kitchen. Sensing my parents’ irritation, I got up from my lazy nap and took the crazy pup outside for some exercise.

Bailey quickly found her blue Frisbee, not to be confused with the orange one she refuses to chase. We began to play a nice game of fetch. With a perfect throw of her Frisbee, Bailey took off after it. While I stood admiring the distance of my throw, Bailey fetched her toy and began running, full speed, back to me.

As she got closer, I wondered when she was going to put on the brakes. I was convinced she was going to run right past me, but boy, was I wrong. She ran full force right into me, taking me out at the knees, leaving me face down in the dirt. As she circled back, I looked up to her smiling face, still holding on to that blue Frisbee and wagging her tail in satisfaction. I swear she was laughing at me while I laid on my stomach, trying to catch the wind that had been knocked out of me.

You can only imagine my frustration at this point. Brushing the dirt off my knees, I wanted to attack. Revenge, I thought. However, Bailey is much quicker than I am – I call it the four-leg advantage. In the end, I knew she’d outrun me. Instead of attempting an attack, I laughed along with her, grabbing her Frisbee for another round of fetch.

The decision to pick up the Frisbee and leave my frustration behind taught me a lesson about my work and school life.

In a recent class, we were discussing how November tends to be a time of high stress for students, faculty and staff. With the excitement of the new academic year having faded and people settled into their routines, stress begins to rise. Spring semester is broken up with a weeklong break, but it seems as though we plow through the fall with few days off, allowing stress to build. These high levels of stress prove to have negative effects both mentally and physically.

To prevent sickness and mental breakdowns, it is important for us to recognize stressful situations, such as being leveled by one’s dog, and realize there are two ways to deal with it: we either can attack the dog in revenge or we can laugh it off, knowing everything will be okay.

This lesson is a time-old classic, but always a good reminder: grab that Frisbee and continue playing fetch.

Posted by Doug Hennes at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We’ve had two engaging and thoughtful blogs already about the Opus Prize and its winners. Can there be more to say? More to write? More to convey?

As a back-stage, behind-the-scenes, on-stage and fully engaged participant in the Opus Prize preparations and production, I say, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Such a grand event provided all who attended mountainous lessons and elephantine emotions. Here are a few of the reflections and comments both overheard and intentionally noted during and after last Wednesday evening’s event.

From my 8th grader, sitting in row 12, seat 5 and up way past his bedtime: “Wow. That was really cool.”

From a student who I don’t know but who stopped me on the sidewalk near Murray-Herrick the next day and was smiling so largely it was as if her joy were bubbling over: “I just wanted to tell you that last night was completely amazing … I learned so much about myself and feel like I can change the world!”

From another student, not one I had met before, who went out of his way while walking with a group of his friends in the halls of OEC: “I’m feeling completely inspired.”

From one of my own COJO 111: Communication and Citizenship students (yes, they received extra credit for attending, but are so inspiring themselves that they probably didn’t need such a carrot): “I used to think I had to have it all figured out. What I was majoring in; what I was going to do with my life. I realized after last night (listening to the award winners) that I can do anything I want to do! I can change the world, and I can do so at any time!”

From my 4th-grade daughter, sitting next to her teenage brother and my husband: “I’d like to get going on that Toys for Tots collection campaign to help children who don’t have toys. I really like what those people are doing.”

From a choir member who I had in class last year: “I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy sitting through the entire event on those hard bleachers on stage. Oh my gosh! I was totally wrong. Those people are totally amazing. They make me want to do whatever I can to love other people and make a difference in my life!”

And from my own vantage point – having met the candidates, learned of their work and stories, and met for hours with those who went on visits to meet them, film them, write their stories and honor them in the grandest fashion last week – I say this: “Holy cow. What can I do each day to make sure I’m at least trying to meet one of the world’s greatest needs?”

The Opus Prize winners make you want to ask yourself that and similar questions today, again tomorrow and each day thereafter. If you missed the event and want to feel so inspired, take just 21 minutes to view the three, seven-minute videos (www.stthomas.edu/opusprize) produced by Brad Jacobsen, Dave Nimmer and Doug Hennes about the honorees. They will leave you – no doubt – saying, “Wow.”

Posted by Doug Hennes at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I don’t know how the other five Catholic universities that hosted the Opus Prize Foundation awards did, but I can’t imagine that any one pulled it off with more spirit, sensitivity and sentiment than the University of St. Thomas Wednesday evening.

St. Thomas hosted the 6th annual awards ceremony to honor the work of three social entrepreneurs around the world – unsung heroes who are working to solve society’s most vexing and persistent problems. The winner, Aicha Ech Channa of Morocco, received $1 million and the other two, Sister Valeriana Garcia-Martin of Columbia and Father Hans Stapel of Brazil, each received $100,000.

The crowd at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis was large and enthusiastic; people got to their feet for a half-dozen standing ovations.

The music from the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Festival Choir was spirited.

The video stories of the three winners and their organizations were graceful.

The introductions of each honoree by St. Thomas students were insightful – and the remarks from master of ceremonies Carol Breuss and Father Dennis Dease were thoughtful.

“They had a grand vision and, just as importantly, a steely resolve to make life better for those who struggle,” Father Dease said in presenting the Opus awards. “I know that I, for one, will take away from this experience a desire to do more.”

Finally, the organization of the event, right down to the three translators (French, Portuguese and Spanish), was meticulous.

The most impressive part, however, was the winners themselves: Aicha and Association Solidarité Féminine and its work with single mothers and their children; Sister Valeriana and Hogares Luz y Vida and its work with children who have physical and mental disabilities; and Father Hans and Fazenda da Esperanca and its treatment centers for drug and alcohol addicts.

The work of the three is inspired by their faith in God, their belief that they can change things, their unbridled optimism and their loving concern for fellow human beings. All this made for a feel-good evening, a testament to what good people can do to improve the human condition—with a combination of compassion, concern and courage.

Most encouraging was the number of students in the audience – I estimate at least a couple of hundred – and their enthusiasm over the winners. One of those students was junior Sahr Brima, who met Father Hans on a due-diligence trip to Brazil and introduced him to the Orchestra Hall audience.

“My experience in Brazil exposed me to the power of faith lived out and the indomitable nature of love. Father Hans and Nelson (Giovanelli) are addressing socioeconomic and spiritual needs in people around the world,” Sahr said. “I pray that God will use me in a similar capacity.”

One of my long-time friends, Sister Mary Frances Reis of the Visitation Monastery of North Minneapolis, attended the ceremony and called Thursday morning. “Dave,” she said, “did you look at the faces of those in the videos, the teenagers and the children? I really do believe you could look into them and see the face of the Lord.”

She may be right. I looked into the faces of the winners and saw someone my age – Medicare eligible – still behaving as though they were just starting the race. That means I’m still in the running.

Posted by Doug Hennes at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When I was in Bogotá, Colombia, for the Opus Prize due diligence visit last May, members of our group would often express our fascination with the ambient, saintly presence of Sister Valeriana García-Martín. As she graciously led us through her facilities, we simply lost count of all the times her loving character and powerful aura left us stunned.

In short, she is an extremely remarkable woman, and I will be absolutely honored to see her again at the Opus Prize event on Wednesday evening. I also look forward to meeting the other two finalists for the $1 million Opus Prize: Aïcha Ech Channa of Casablanca, Morocco, and Father Hans Stapel of Guaratinguetá, Brazil.

I encourage all of my fellow students – as well as faculty and staff – to attend the 8 p.m. event in Orchestra Hall. To do otherwise would be a missed opportunity. Free tickets are available at the Box Office in Murray-Herrick Campus Center and at the College of Applied Professional Studies in Opus Hall on the Minneapolis campus, and buses will leave from Flynn Hall at 7 p.m.

During our visit to Colombia, we did not tell Sister Valeriana that we represented a Minnesota foundation interested in awarding her a substantial sum for her charitable work. However, it was a struggle to explain our presence in sufficiently vague terms in case the visit would be affected by the knowledge of our endeavor. In any case, we witnessed the work of her organization on an ordinary day – and what we witnessed was truly extraordinary.

Sister Valeriana led us into the rooms where the children slept. The rooms were filled with vibrant, playful bedspreads, which the children shared with a host of delightful stuffed animals. I chuckled when one boy about five years old showed me his secret collection of trading cards (stored under the mattress for safekeeping, of course).

It was humbling to hear that most of these children had been abandoned after birth by parents who were unwilling or unable to carry the burdens associated with their disabilities. Sister Valeriana said that even though she was cramped for space, she would not hesitate to find room for another such child when the need arose.

You will hear many more humbling and amazing stories Wednesday evening if you take the time to head to Orchestra Hall. Please join me!

Posted by Doug Hennes at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)