December brings to mind a story from my past.While it's not a traditional holiday story (and includes Santa Claus) it has value for me today. The story begins in 1949. I was a cute five year-old child, first born to a 26 year-old father and an 20 year-old mother. It was a simpler time, one without TV. Did we even have a radio or a telephone? I'm not sure.. My Dad was recently home from World War II and trying to earn enough driving a taxi to care for his family which also included my then 2 year-old sister. I remember vaguely that we lived in a small (rat infested) apartment, and at night my bed was a cot that served as kitchen table seating during the day. Coming and going from the apartment, I used a back staircase that we shared with the grocery store on the ground floor. It was while using this staircase that I saw the Boogie Man! I ran upstairs to warn my mother, breathlessly reporting that the Boogie Man was clad in red and white and bristled with cat whiskers. Naturally, she didn't believe me. Years passed and my Chicago public school education exposed me to stories about Santa Claus, his reindeer, and Christmas. I understood now that the Boogie Man on the stairs was just Santa Claus. As I got older and better understood the brain and the power of words, I understood that I had attached the image of cat whiskers to St. Nick, and that my Boogie Man was merely a figure created in the mind of a little boy who at that time had only been exposed to Jewish holiday traditions.
And so it is today:When we observe with our senses something in our world, we interpret its meaning using the knowledge we have. And like 5 year-old me, we may sometimes get it wrong due to limited information. That's why our CEU opportunities and ON DEMAND library is so important. They supply me with more information amid a richer context, presenting an opportunity to interpret my world better the first time, and a tool to re-evaluate what I interpreted perhaps wrongly in the past.
ON DEMAND are presentations/CEU opportunities at ie-camft.org. And, peruse ourON DEMAND Library; more offerings will be available soon. But don't delay, while these opportunities are currently free of charge for members, this may change soon. Questions? Don't hesitate to reach out atiecamft@gmail.com.
I love being part of IE-CAMFT. It makes me feel that I'm part of a bigger picture, and that keeps me hopeful!
Ian Lewerenz, Antoinette Babers, David Cabrera, Elizabeth Cortez, Crystal Folk, and Siobhan Tolbert
Thank You for Renewing
Kathy Jaffe, Kathleen Sarmiento, George Pitts, Kylie Kellas, Catherine Hayes, and Leticia Walton
Renewal Reminders
Linda Bramel, Myesha Dunn, Aileen Castellanos, Arlene Todd, Chelsea Denegri, Marie Bassil, Janice Browning, Robyn Spotten, Jenna Hardy, Melissa Stratton, John Warfield, Brittany Leary, Sarah Bergeson, Mary Ellen Garcia, Leanna Escamilla, and Steve Whiting
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