Radical Grace
January – March 2008

Real Calling to Real in the South-North Dialogue

by Linda Hardy

 In the early years of the Center for Action and Contemplation I would put my children to bed at night and sit down in front of the computer to write. Flush with the excitement of finding a group of kindred spirits, I told my story in their terms. I had no credentials as an activist or a contemplative, just a grandiose notion of a life poured out for the common good. I was learning that my bucket could be emptied by one boy in diapers and one in Ninja Turtle underpants.
            We talked a lot in those days about the South-North Dialogue, reversing the traditional order of words to indicate a new humility on the part of the wealthy North. (Wishful thinking!) My own inner dialogue was already in progress and not so hopeful—the imperious North was still haranguing the wounded, resentful South. In articles for Radical Grace I tried to weave all these elements together, shuttling back and forth between events in Latin America and those in my own life. Out of painful realities I wanted to create something beautiful. I also wanted to become transparent to my new community and make it easier for others to tell the truth about their own lives.
            This impulse for truth-telling got a boost at the CAC’s first summer conference, Weaving the Garment of Justice where I met a man revered at the Center as a prophet—not in the sense of predicting the future, but of accurately reading the present and telling the “inconvenient truth.”  Fr. Donald Hessler had spent over 30 years in Mexico as a Maryknoll Missionary and I knew him by sight and reputation only. He was the last person I wanted to see as I emerged from the cafeteria line and looked around for three chairs together. My tray was embarrassingly heavy, and two children were tugging at my skirt.  And I was berating myself for caving into their demands for food that I knew would be left on their plates. As I passed Fr. Hessler he looked up at me and said, “Those children are too great a blessing for one woman. Where is your husband?”
            I felt like the Woman at the Well when Jesus asked her for a drink of water. . . .

Linda Hardy wrote regularly for Radical Grace between 1988 and 1992 and was on its editorial board until she left Albuquerque in 1990. She now lives with her husband in Austin and can be contacted at hardy328@yahoo.com

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