Meeting God in Carolina:
Johnson, Jim & Johnson, Kathy
MEETING GOD IN CAROLINA SOME DAYS IT'S NOT SO EASY JIM JOHNSON & KATHY JOHNSON We are a teama physician assistant and a family nurse practitioner-working together in a health clinic in...
...It is a shame that some of this is lost with younger generations and supposed sophistication...
...The community has never seemed to hold it against us that we didn't, but our children have occasionally been the targets of prejudicial taunts at school...
...the education programs are combined...
...How has faith shaped your choices: vocational, financial, ethical...
...The county is 40 percent illiterate (less than an eighth-grade reading proficiency...
...We hope that, if nothing else, with an integrated staff of blacks, whites, and Hispanics providing care to all, the clinic stands as a symbol of openness and caring...
...It has been something of a struggle, but it continues to be an important element in his search for identity and meaning as a Catholic Christian and as a Christian health-care provider...
...I, Kathy, belonged to that order in the sixties and have maintained contact over the years...
...Three physicians provide backup for us, one of whom comes for at least half-a-day from a town ten miles away...
...It is a relationship that has become a source of strength for us...
...ness" and "proclaim" through a church that, in its own structure, discriminates against women and tries to silence those who proclaim liberation theology...
...When we were interviewed in 1980 for our jobs here, the board members learned that we were Catholic...
...Kiddingly, but with a note of genuine concern, they told us that they felt hiring us would "probably work, but would work for sure if we would just become Baptists...
...Didn't we care about the freedom of religion...
...Our house could easily pass for a "branch library...
...As we approached World War III on the church steps, the irony seemed acute: we had all just worshiped together...
...Tobacco farming has been the predominant source of income in the past, but with hard times for farmers and decreasing tobacco production, people are taking jobs in small factories-many of which have moved to the South for cheaper, non-union labor...
...Several weeks ago we listened to a tape by Sister Joan Chittister, in which she enumerates the reasons she stays in the Catholic church, one of which seemed particularly applicable to us...
...The area is 50 percent black and 50 percent white, with an influx of Hispanics in summer...
...Theodore Orthodox Academy...
...Recently, a coworker expressed amazement that we were "Christians" who believed in the Resurrection...
...The Catholic church in the rural South is very different from the churches (in New Jersey and an all-German town in Iowa) where we grew up...
...It is so easy to fill our days with patients, meetings, family, and household chores that when there is a pause or when we feel "burned out," we know we need to make time to let God nourish, lead, and satisfy us...
...16.8 percent of the population live below the poverty line...
...People care about each other and overt violence is rare...
...Patients frequently don't keep appointments, can't afford medication, and don't comply with treatment plans, yet get angry when we can't see them immediately or if they "aren't well yet"-even if they haven't complied...
...For example, two years ago when the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) talks were being held, our bishop wrote to the churches in a letter read at the Masses, asking people to sign a petition to support the treaty...
...We asked each individual: How is your Catholic faith manifest in your daily life and work...
...It is a community-owned clinic in Stovall, a town of 470 persons...
...we are all God's people...
...Our restlessness and searching is probably deepest when we are involved within the Catholic church...
...When we are quiet long enough to allow this hunger to surface, it is clear that it is from God...
...How could we be duped so completely...
...We are grateful to be able to meet with them and to share letters, videos, and tapes...
...The clinic is open six-days-a-week, providing on-call coverage the rest of the time...
...We find it hard to "witIn 1987, Commonweal published a series of articles by lay people who described their personal experience of faith in the work place...
...it is the way these people live their lives-with God and the church as part of their everyday lives...
...We work with various councils and boards: the county FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) board, the diocesan Catholic Social Ministries Board, the county Interagency Council, the Agricultural Extension Service Advisory Council, and the EMT Advisory Council...
...Both of us try to be involved in community activities: the PTA, the emergency medical squad, the Parent Opportunity Program-a group of volunteers who work with pregnant teenage girls...
...It is humbling...
...Each place we have worked, each labor, has prepared us for the next...
...During the summer, the clinic hires a Spanish translator to assist patients who are migrant farm workers...
...We are never sure where we will go or what lies ahead, but in looking back, we know that there has been a guiding hand...
...Our fifth installment in this series is by Jim and Kathy Johnson, health-care providers at a clinic in Stovall, North Carolina...
...Yet it is precisely there, where things upset and confuse us most, that clarity comes...
...We watched and listened, and couldn't help respect the passion and commitment of our vocal parishioners...
...We could see several people bristling in their pews, and before the recessional was over, people were running out to talk to the priest...
...Where do you find spiritual strength and guidance...
...He pleadingly called, "Jim and Kathy, Help...
...Along with the restlessness and the search is a frequent awareness of a "hunger" we each feel...
...however, the clinic has a registered population of over 9,000 persons from the surrounding areas...
...In addition to the providers, there are two nurses, an office manager, two secretary-receptionists, and a computer operator...
...God tolerates this, loving us all...
...Of the two of us, Jim has been particularly involved in formal religious studies: taking a self-designed program of theological study for several years, courses through Earlham College, Catholic University, and St...
...Our intentions are always better than our actions, and repeatedly we have to set aside new times and new ways for personal prayer, but God keeps nudging us...
...Four years ago, we both became lay affiliates with the order-a means of providing mutual support, resources, and a sharing of struggles and values...
...The community as a whole has been supportive of the clinic and of us...
...yet we don't agree on very much...
...The socially active and deeply spiritual lives of the sisters are inspiring to us...
...They were as concerned about the church and other people as we were...
...Racism, sexism, and religious prejudice are prevalent...
...Staying in touch with friends who share our interests and concerns helps us to hold on to our values and convictions...
...The incident was an eye-opener, and the beginning of some mutual tolerance, then caring...
...One priest rotates among three small churches here...
...we are encouraged to see the local Catholic church begin to reach out in ecumenical activities and social action...
...we should own stock in the publishing business...
...The church is a confusing place, but it has brought many of us to strong convictions...
...The people were asking how a Catholic could not advocate making more weapons to fight communism...
...There are days when it's very easy to "meet God" here...
...Certainly, the misinformation between churches isn't one-sided...
...When asked how she is, an elderly black woman we know responds, "Thanks be to God, I be doin' fine," or "With the Lord's and your help, I made it this far...
...MEETING GOD IN CAROLINA SOME DAYS IT'S NOT SO EASY JIM JOHNSON & KATHY JOHNSON We are a teama physician assistant and a family nurse practitioner-working together in a health clinic in rural North Carolina...
...One of the most important gifts in our lives has been a recon-nection with the Franciscan Sisters of Rochester, Minnesota...
...Simple honest people talk about God freely...
...Only in stillness and in prayer is it satisfied...
...It is obvious that these remarks come from the heart...
...And we are active in parish life, teaching in the RCIA program, RENEW, and religious education...
...We have taken part in several conferences in the area and in diocesan programs, but they are fairly infrequent and are generally some distance away...
...and vice versa...
...On other days it is not so simple to find God here...
...Patients have told us that they once thought Catholicism was some kind of "cult...
...We received such positive response to the series that we decided to continue it...
...The church, she says, is where she came to her concern for the poor, the environment, and the world, and gained a feeling of camaraderie with all peoples...
...We had all thought about the same issues, even if we had come up with totally different conclusions and solutions (though it is hard to see how...
...Living here, we constantly have to search for things that nourish us...
...We believe and trust in that for the future...
Vol. 117 • February 1990 • No. 3
