A couple of months ago, I received an email from the President of the institution where I've been gainfully employed for a while, indicating that because of the economic downturn, the endowment of the institution had lost almost a billion dollars of net worth.
Perhaps ten days later I received an email from the Chair of my Department indicating that they'd be cutting staff in the Department by twenty percent.
I figured this did not bode well for Tim.
Today I opened an email indicating that my position in the Department no longer has guaranteed funding, and that I'd be receiving the official notification of same via snail-mail.
So I guess I'll be joining the ranks of the unemployed when I return from my military service here Down Range in a war zone.
(Lest people think that USERRA prevents this sort of thing: if the *position* goes away, the employer is no longer obligated to re-hire the Soldier/Marine/Sailor/Airman/Coast Guardsman who's been deployed. The position I've held -- Undergraduate Research Coordinator and Director of the Honors Program in the Department -- is being axed, so my employer is released from rehiring me after my deployment ends.)
I guess there are big changes ahead for me....
The sadness I'm experiencing right now cannot be articulated in words.
Blessings and peace to one and all,
Fr. Tim, SJ
Perhaps ten days later I received an email from the Chair of my Department indicating that they'd be cutting staff in the Department by twenty percent.
I figured this did not bode well for Tim.
Today I opened an email indicating that my position in the Department no longer has guaranteed funding, and that I'd be receiving the official notification of same via snail-mail.
So I guess I'll be joining the ranks of the unemployed when I return from my military service here Down Range in a war zone.
(Lest people think that USERRA prevents this sort of thing: if the *position* goes away, the employer is no longer obligated to re-hire the Soldier/Marine/Sailor/Airman/Coast Guardsman who's been deployed. The position I've held -- Undergraduate Research Coordinator and Director of the Honors Program in the Department -- is being axed, so my employer is released from rehiring me after my deployment ends.)
I guess there are big changes ahead for me....
The sadness I'm experiencing right now cannot be articulated in words.
Blessings and peace to one and all,
Fr. Tim, SJ
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6 comments:
I "get" sadness, as you well know. May I remind you of a bit of wisdom from a very fine retreat leader who talks about the "powerlessness du jour" and how naming it empowers us?
Peace,
Cina
Thanks, Cina! You're right, Fr. Tom W is a "very fine retreat leader."
:-)
Tim, SJ
Sorry Tim, That really stinks. This economy kicking many of our butts, as we just let go another 300. Glad someone reminded me to take it a day at a time, as that is all I have found that works.
Not sure if you got my recent email. Grief and powerlessness can really suck too, but not as much as trying to be empowered in contrilling what can't be controlled. Love You, Steve C
Dear Dr/Fr. Tim,
I am also really sad to hear that your job is being cut. I think I have told you this three or four times now, but your having the job that you did at the time that you did was one of the major factors that caused my life to get off a negative course and onto a much more positive one.
If there were anything I could do to change that job cut, I would. But I know that in whatever you do next, your being where you are will change someone else's life for the better, just as it did mine four years ago.
I hope you are ok and think of you often!
Un abrazo fuerte,
Emily
Fr. Tim: From an Army Chaplain (on the Guard side) who quit his job as cop (ostensibly 'cause God told him to) four months ago to focus on ministry... I'll be in Afghanistan soon, believe it or not. What God clears away, he replaces abundantly. May what awaits you be abundant, brother. Keep 'em going over there. Perhaps we'll cross paths somewhere. I'm praying for you.
CH Chris
In a big book I pick up and read, after describing a surrender to God, it says that we now have a new Employer who cares for us if we do His work well... I was laid off of a 9.5 yr job recently. I grieved, and then I went on asking my Employer what I am assigned to do each day. 4 months have passed, all bills are paid, money in bank, food in frig, car paid for with gas put into it... Only my old ideas scare me, not the current Truth.
msg :-) from Chico Spiritual Retreat - the knitting one
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