Living Every Moment

"Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the greatest lessons in life I learned in 1978 from a Jesuit priest from Brazil named Castor Cartelle. It was the lesson of never wasting a moment in life. Each of us has 24 hours gifted to us each day to cherish and give back to the world the best that we have to offer.  Anything less is a loss to not only ourselves, but to the Universe.

It was my first year as a public high school teacher in Oak Hill, West Virginia. I was struggling to figure it all out and make a difference. Public speaking and patience were not a skill and attribute that came natural to me, so I made a lot of mistakes. Early in the year a kindly-looking gentleman walked into my classroom unexpectedly during a lecture on some topic of biology. Still being a new teacher I was nervous about anyone observing my methods with all my bad habits, so I was a bit uncomfortable when the tall visitor in the back of the room stayed for a couple more sections of instruction.

At the break for lunch he came forward and introduced himself. Quickly discerning that my visitor spoke no English, we parted after a handshake and smiles with my still not comprehending what he was all about. After school I learned from other members of the faculty that the gentleman was visiting his brother in town and wanted to learn a bit about American education, so he had dropped in on a number of classes to get a feel for our school. All well and good.

The next day he was back in my class in the morning and stayed all day. In fact, he joined my classes for nearly every day for the next 13 weeks. Of all the many classrooms in the school, he chose to spend his time exclusively in mine. In time I would come to find out how meaningful this was.

Once my Portuguese-speaking visitor and I figured out we both spoke enough French to communicate, I learned that Castor Cartelle was a Jesuit priest as well as a world-renowned professor of paleontology at the University of Brasilia in Brazil.  My French has never been great, but it was good enough to begin to help him grasp some words and ideas in English. In the 13 weeks that would follow he became quite conversant in English, and I learned far more than I could ever have imagined.

Each day I would cover topics of general science and found myself answering his questions and addressing his comments as a member of my classes. The students got used to him and got back to their usual antics once the good padre became a regular fixture. We all grew together. I suppose as a professor and a scientist he was more interested in my science instruction than other subjects, and as a priest I like to think he may have had some affinity for my own adventure and spiritual proclivities. For whatever reason he chose to join us, I was glad he became a part of my classes.

Jesuits, characteristically, waste no time. Every moment is an opportunity to experience and grow during this short life we have here. The little town I taught in held few opportunities for cultural exploration, so I imagine the school was the hot spot for discovery while visiting his brother for three months. Father Cartelle was originally from Spain before he settled in Brazil. He had made some famous discoveries in the jungles of South America, readily found on the Internet today. His great pleasure in life was playing pipe organs; he showed me many wonderful pictures of him playing these enormous organs in the great cathedrals of the world. Once his confidence and skills with English improved, we spent more and more time speaking of his travels to these cathedrals and his time doing research in the Amazon jungles.

Before the end of his stay, the padre's English was good enough that I invited him to give instruction in the classroom, tell my students about his adventures, and show slides of capturing giant constrictor snakes and the bones of ancient mammals of the Miocene Epoch that he uncovered in South America. In the end we exchanged addresses and ultimately lost touch.

I am delighted that my friend Castor is still with us, still busy lecturing, and sharing his discoveries and enthusiasm with the world. His lasting impact on me has been immeasurable. Even my daily recordings in this blog are an off-shoot of his shared passion for filling every moment with something productive that adds value to the world. In thinking back and recalling the time we shared in my classroom, I cannot but think that our meeting and time together was no accident. I have thanked this great spirit many times for choosing to be there at the right time in my life to help me grow.