For the love of all things Holy....

I was fired from the job I had for a month this morning. I will blog about that later. I say this to segue into the following. It is the epitome of all firing stories. A friend I have loves it so much that whenever I am let go she compares it to this story and some of the time when I mention religion she mentions this event.

The event is as such:

Once upon a time, Attia didn't have a job. Attia loves God and Attia saw in one of the bulletins of the church she went to that they needed Religious Education Teachers. It was volunteer, but, it was at least a reason to get out of the house.

I don't remember what grade it was, but, I called up to inquire about it, and was told that somebody had already taken that grade, but, there was another grade (I think 6 or 7-8), would I want that one? I said yes.

I was informed later, by the Director of Religious Education that somebody had just taken that one (after it was offered to me, meaning, I got it, but, then, because somebody else wanted it, it was given to them), how would I like 2nd Grade? BUT, not any second grade. THIS second grade was for the newly newly mostly non-practicing Catholic children. There was another second grade for the practicing Catholic children, but, the one I would be teaching would be continued through next year (when the children could receive the Eucharist).

These children were blank slates. I could teach them.

I hate curricula. I had to teach them from approved texts. These texts didn't have an Imprimatur or Nahil Obstat. ....Which is what one would expect from a church with a DRE.....

I was informed that addressing the children by "Mr." or "Miss" & their last name would be improper. I did this for the first class, anyway.

I was told not to do that and again, instructed not to sit at the desk, but, rather, sit at the table with them. This IS school, but, it's not.

At one point, I was asked a question about guardian angels and I didn't have the information memorized. I looked up the passages in the Bible (and I told this to a former Professor I had, and she was surprised that it was in the Bible at all....thought it was just something told to little kids...) and had each child (there were three) and myself read a passage about guardian angels and then I explained it a little bit more.

What was I told by the DRE? "Don't read from the Bible it will befuddle their little minds!"

Anyway, our lessons had to be approved by the DRE, so, I would submit my lesson plans to her. She would tweek them a bit to where they would fit in her approval.

I was called in one day to either come in on a Tuesday or Wednesday and submit my plans to her. I knew it wasn't the reason, I KNEW IT, but, still, I stayed at the library one Sunday to plan it all out.

And sure enough, she was letting me go. I don't remember everything she said, but, one of the prefaces was, "...I have given this a lot of prayer..."

I tell you, The Reader, this for one reason and one reason only.

My friend thinks it's hiLARious that this woman used the Holy Spirit as an excuse to fire me.

...I couldn't get over that I was let go from a VOLUNTEER position, myself....

Another thing, I was yelled at because we hadn't yet made our prayer cloth. Apparently, it's a craft project where the kids could paint or color this white cloth however they wanted and we would use it to open up in prayer each session.

......Forgive me if we had more pressing matters, like teaching them the basics of the Catholic faith....

Anyway, again, whenever I am let go or anything like this happens, my friend compares it to the excuse of I was let go FOR SOMETHING I WAS NOT BEING PAID FOR because of the Holy Spirit.

Of all the excuses, that one is still the most outrageous. Should anything top it, you all will know.