01-04-2007 - Traces, n. 4
NewWorld

The Parents’ Club


by Paolo Zaffaroni

Idon’t often think of myself as a father, because I feel young, I like to dance, I like to go out, and I am pretty screwed up, but there are those moments when I realize that the little monsters next to me actually need me and constitute my true vocation. Rather than try to fit a stereotype, I believe that what matters is to look at who I have in front of me, and to engage with the events that define my life and theirs.
For example, when my wife and I had to choose a school for our children, we kept two criteria in mind: that our children learn, and that the school’s philosophy resonate with what we value. So we went around Houston meeting with principals of various schools, finding out whether the reason they created their schools came close to what moved us in building a family and living the Movement. We found what we were looking for in a school that values the children’s personalities as openness to everything, and selects teachers that love their job and the students. It was a bit awkward to ask, “Why did you start this school? And what moved you to get involved with it?” We realized that these are not typical questions that parents ask but, looking at our experience in the Movement, we see that the loving gaze that exalts our humanity is what we desire for ourselves and for our children. What else does one need from a school but this?

An engaged humanity
We ended up sending our children to a small Catholic school. Since the principal of this school wants the same thing we do, he eventually challenged us to create a parents’ club to show the other parents how Christianity fully engages all of our humanity. Answering this provocation was not separate from trying to be a father or loving our kids. And so we began. Everyone in the school became part of the same educational challenge that we have learned to take seriously only through the Movement. We currently meet once a month and, starting from the interest of the parents, we present something beautiful that evokes the heart, such as books, art, movies, and astronomy. The goal is simple: to show how the desire for fulfillment and the quest for the Mystery (the religious sense) constitutes the scope and the sparkle for all these human interests.

Looking at reality
On one occasion, we invited Riro Maniscalco to sing the Blues and he was great at showing how the Blues are deeply connected to the religious sense. Another time, we invited Amy to present Van Gogh’s paintings, and to illustrate how art can speak of our hearts’ desire. People started asking us what the source of this different way of looking at reality is. They also began to approach reality with these questions on their radar screen. Together with them, we have learned more and more to look at everything with our gaze on the Infinite. This has also helped me to keep this gaze in dealing with my own children. When they see something they like, I ask them, “Why is it beautiful? What do you like about it?” Those are the moments I truly feel that I am a father to them, because I see that I introduce them to reality with a gaze that goes beyond reality.