Be One (04/04/2025)

She was a religious sister, diminutive in stature, quiet in crowds. She was our chemistry teacher. But somehow, of all the thousands of people at Heelan High School, she got me. The bell had rung, everyone was grabbing their stuff and rushing off. I was slower, trying to avoid the awkward mob in the hall between classes. I didn’t have far to go for my next class.

As I got up from my desk and headed to the door, she called me by name. “Kathleen.”

“Yes, Sister. Marianne” I turned to face her. “Kathleen, how are you doing at getting settled in a new city, a new school?”

“It’s hard,” I admitted. “I don’t fit in. I have a southern accent. I have no friends. I eat alone. Other than that, I guess it is okay.”

“Kathleen, if you can’t find one, be one.” She told me.

“What do you mean?” I asked her because I truly didn’t understand.

“Be to others what you yourself long for. Sometimes the LORD gives us a need that is larger than us so we will become the leaven in the world. If you need a friend, be a friend.”

Her words lingered in my head. How was I supposed to do that when I didn’t know anyone, and no one was coming around offering to be my friend. But then that same week, a new girl came to Heelan. She was in my geometry class. I spoke to her after class. I welcomed her. And I told her to meet me at the cafeteria and we’d sit together at lunch. And within a week, I’d made my first friend.

Sister Marianne had been right. Sometimes in life the LORD gives us a need that tenderizes us to the needs of others, and we can become a leaven. That lesson has stuck with me throughout my life even up to today. When I see a real need, I will raise my hand. “If you can’t find one, be one.” Thanks, Sister Marianne.

What is the LORD calling us to through our own needs?

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.