At Madonna House, I work in the HELP department. HELP stands for heating, electrical, landscaping, and plumbing.
When people ask me what I will be doing today, I often tell them “I don’t know.” They say to me that I must have some idea, but my answer is still “no.” Why?
The last time someone asked me this question, I was sitting with Tom White, my colleague in the HELP department. We were having breakfast at St. Mary’s where we both live.
No sooner had I told them that I didn’t know what we would be doing than the phone rang. It was Frank Brick, our cheese-maker, on the line with an urgent question for Tom about a plumbing issue.
While he was still on the phone, water began rising up out of the grease traps in St. Mary’s kitchen. Within a couple of minutes, there was over an inch of water on the floor. None of us could have predicted we would be spending the entire day scrambling to attend to this flood.
On another day, I was sitting in the workshop basement where the men stop every morning for a coffee break.
This area houses a few computers, various workbenches, and tools of every kind. It has the appearance of your typical man-cave, only on a slightly larger scale, and also doubles as the not-so-quiet computer room. I had been working with my colleague Michael Amaral, cleaning chimneys and wood stoves.
The phone rang. Michael took the call and disappeared around the corner. After several minutes he reappeared, only to start moving towards the door. I followed him and got into the van without knowing where we were headed.
We drove down the road to St. Joseph’s House, our rural apostolate. Despite its proximity to the Training Center, it is an independent Madonna House mission, a world of its own, deeply connected to the local community.
The Mask Electric van was in one of the parking areas. Mask Electric is a company that we hire to do some of our electrical work from time to time. There had been a problem with one of the underground electrical lines, and they had been called in to carry out the necessary repairs. Michael had been called to assist them because of his understanding of the wiring in these buildings.
Michael and I began working with our electrician friend Nolan, and within a few minutes, we located the point where the malfunctioning electrical line leaves the building and travels underground to the other building. We were going to have to dig up the line to see what the problem was.
Having worked with us before, Nolan reminded us that we had a backhoe and that our other colleague, Doug Guss, could use it to dig up that line in no time. The only problem was that we would have to locate Doug.
Michael said he thought he knew where Doug might be, so he hopped in the HELP van and drove away. In the meantime, we started digging by hand; Nolan, his assistant, and myself each grabbed a shovel and got to work.
Sara Matthews, the director of St. Joseph’s House, came outside, asking if we needed any refreshments, which we didn’t at the moment. She left, re-appeared a few moments later, wearing a pair of work boots and wielding a shovel, and started helping us with the digging.
Not long after that, another St. Joseph’s House member, Julie Lynch, appeared, also in boots and with a shovel.
A grey Toyota Camry then pulled into the yard and out stepped Tom, who just happened to be driving by. Before we could say hello, he had a shovel in his hand and was helping us with the digging.
A few minutes later the HELP van returned with Michael, Doug, some electrical supplies and no backhoe. They were quickly followed by Daniel Perren and Matthew, a guest, who also grabbed shovels and started digging. (Where did all the shovels come from?)
Within a few minutes, a three-foot-deep trench was well on its way to being finished without any heavy machinery at all. Then another car pulled up with one of the local friends of St. Joseph’s House, and her extremely friendly and cute dog named Coco Chanel. Julie and I dropped our shovels and had a visit with them.
By this time, the problem section of wire had been located and repaired, and the trench was nearly filled in again. After receiving a thank-you from the St. Joseph’s gals, everyone left rather quickly, without stopping for so much as a drink of water.
I said good-bye to Coco, and when I turned around, aside from some discoloured sand which had been a little moist under the top layer in the yard, there was no evidence that there had just been a giant trench here or that so many people had been here working only a few minutes ago.
The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the cat was eating its food, and there was a deep silence and peace in the air.
So when someone asks me what I’m going to be doing in the HELP department today, I confidently tell them that I have no idea.
[Photo by Jenna Gernon]
