This Salesian house at Chertsey is a very different kind of house, than any Salesian house I've ever been or visited. This is the first Salesian house that I've been, which is 'only for Salesians' - meaning, there is merely for residence. No common apostolate is carried out on campus, neither are there anyone else living on site. The only other person, apart from the seven of us living here, who frequents is Katie, our housekeeper. Furthermore, it is located in a normal residential area. Not in some remote place. Neither does it stand out from among the other houses in the surrounding. Now all of this combined together makes me feel as if it were a normal house, a normal home! Not an institution. Not a building!
Yet, very often, I feel that it can be more tidier and neater than it normally is. If not the whole house, certainly the common areas - kitchen, dining area, the office... I think it has more to do with my outlook that it is a house, an 'official' place where we stay. More than my personal preference for neatness, it is this attitude that a Salesian house - a Salesian institution - ought to be neat and tidy. But today it struck me that if it is a house, a normal simple place where people (7 of us) live, then it can never be perfectly tidy. Which family house that I've visited has ever been tidy? My own house is never neat and orderly. Well, there is always a range of order and tidiness, in houses, but never immaculately clean. That is what corporate offices are. That is how Sister's convents are (quite a few of them). But never homes!
I don't think this realisation is going to altar my actions much or stop me from getting agitated when I see things left out of place or scattered all over. But perhaps, enjoy this unique experience of living in a unique Salesian house.
Yet, very often, I feel that it can be more tidier and neater than it normally is. If not the whole house, certainly the common areas - kitchen, dining area, the office... I think it has more to do with my outlook that it is a house, an 'official' place where we stay. More than my personal preference for neatness, it is this attitude that a Salesian house - a Salesian institution - ought to be neat and tidy. But today it struck me that if it is a house, a normal simple place where people (7 of us) live, then it can never be perfectly tidy. Which family house that I've visited has ever been tidy? My own house is never neat and orderly. Well, there is always a range of order and tidiness, in houses, but never immaculately clean. That is what corporate offices are. That is how Sister's convents are (quite a few of them). But never homes!
I don't think this realisation is going to altar my actions much or stop me from getting agitated when I see things left out of place or scattered all over. But perhaps, enjoy this unique experience of living in a unique Salesian house.
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