{"id":11493,"date":"2021-05-07T11:32:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T15:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/?p=11493"},"modified":"2025-07-18T10:37:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:37:09","slug":"can-you-teach-me-to-turn-so-i-can-get-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/resources\/news\/can-you-teach-me-to-turn-so-i-can-get-home\/","title":{"rendered":"'\u00bfPuedes ense\u00f1arme a girar para que pueda llegar a casa?'"},"content":{"rendered":"

What you are going to find in \u201cThe Purpose Gap: Empowering Communities of Color to Find Meaning and Thrive,\u201d a book published in March by Westminster John Knox Press<\/a> and written by the Rev. Dr. Patrick Reyes, are, as Reyes writes in the introduction, \u201cstories, studies, and dreams about care for the conditions of our lives, of our communities, and of our bodies. For one to thrive, understanding the conditions that already surround us (and others) is the first step. For so many of us, purpose is defined, stolen, or withheld before we even enter the world. The question now is \u2018How do we understand and influence these conditions?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Reyes, the senior director of learning design for the Forum for Theological Exploration<\/a>, was the guest of the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty Wednesday during the Leading Theologically podcast, which can be viewed here<\/a>. Hinson-Hasty is the senior director for Theological Funds Development for the Committee on Theological Education for the PC(USA) and the Presbyterian Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reyes told Hinson-Hasty he\u2019s taken up skateboarding, which teenagers who work for hours mastering jumps and other maneuvers \u201cthink is hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s humbling but it\u2019s exciting to be with young people,\u201d he said. \u201cThey say, \u2018Can you teach me some tricks?\u2019 I say, \u2018Can you teach me to turn so I can get home?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The purpose gap Reyes describes in his latest book is real, he says on his website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor people of color living each day surrounded by violence, for whom survival is not a given, vocational discernment is more than \u2018finding your purpose\u2019 \u2014 it\u2019s a matter of life and death,\u201d he states. \u201cI did not find my purpose. My purpose found me in the form of my community, ancestors, and elders who spoke power over our lives, who saw something not just in me but in our people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reyes told Hinson-Hasty he\u2019s where he is because of his grandmother, \u201cwho made space and paid attention to how I might thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also credits his father, \u201cwho took us to public spaces [including national parks and public libraries] to teach us that belonging is bigger than ourselves. It is about sharing the collective good for the common good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book includes Reyes\u2019 account of taking scholars to a conference at Yosemite National Park<\/a> without the amenities most conference-goers are used to, including a stove for brewing coffee and hot water for taking showers. Fearing he\u2019d misjudged the situation, he spoke via Facetime with his father the evening before the conference began after taking a run through one of the nation\u2019s most scenic spots. Using his cellphone, he showed his father some of the sights his father had introduced him to years ago. \u201cIs this where you would take us?\u201d he asked his father, who beamed.<\/p>\n

Reyes grew up in Salinas, California, which produced another pretty terrific writer, the novelist John Steinbeck. Reyes attended the elementary school named after the author of \u201cThe Grapes of Wrath\u201d and \u201cTravels with Charley.\u201d He was fond of the school librarian, even though she enforced the rules with the kind of discipline that has made school librarians both famous and beloved.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe would take my hat\u201d from his head, Reyes recalled, \u201cand I would take her books.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another story from the book Hinson-Hasty said was powerful was the time the adult Reyes returned home to attend his cousin\u2019s funeral. He stayed with his grandmother, who allowed him to sleep in the guest bed \u2014 a bed \u201cthat does not belong to you,\u201d she told him. \u201cThat bed is for the whole family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking she loved me more than anyone else, thinking she was doing something special for me,\u201d he said. \u201cIn Bakersfield, everyone will tell you they felt special in her presence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teacher, author and strategist the Rev. Dr. Patrick Reyes isn\u2019t too old to learn new tricks, including skateboarding<\/p>","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":11495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48550,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11493\/revisions\/48550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/presbyterianfoundation.louderstaging.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}