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About the Author

Katie Seltzer, class of 2006, majored in history with a concentration in women and gender studies. While at Holy Cross, she was active in SPUD, Women's Forum, and Pax Christi. Currently, Katie is teaching English in two schools 12 miles south west of Paris, France. After she finds a place to live, she is looking forward to traveling to Taize and Assisi in addition to other religious sites throughout Europe.

Thinking Outloud

I never thought that I'd actually seek out a McDonald's but yesterday I found myself searching for the nearest McDo's (as they say in France). Worry not, I haven't embraced the exportation of American culture via French fries and milkshakes, but rather I was looking for the free wireless Internet McDonald's provides in Europe. Since I arrived on September 27th, I've begun the first real apartment hunt of my life. Throughout my life I've been lucky enough to have a home and parents who provided me with a warm bed and many meals. I don't really know how to go about finding an apartment in the United States, let along in a foreign language. Now, I find myself in a strange country without a permanent place to stay and a head full of anxiety. Ironically enough, McDonald's, amongst other places, has provided me with some solace.

I'm a person who likes to plan to the last iota. Arriving in France without a definitive place to stay has been stressful to say the least. And yet in spite of all the anxiety and uncertainty I feel, I have had several moments of providence. Yesterday, chez-McDo's I was seated with my laptop trying to search the roommate want ads online. An older man came to sit next to me and pointed to the computer, saying he recently bought one too. I politely told him that I was American and I don't speak French very well. To my surprise, he continued to express interest in me, asking why I was living in France, telling me about his work as a photographer. When my Internet wouldn't work he even called his friend to see if she could help since she's a computer expect. Sadly, she was not home, but my new friend gave me her name and number in case I needed to call her in the future. Never in all my planning did I expect to find such a kind and gentle Frenchmen in a McDonald's!

Today was the other moment of Providence, again while I was hoping to find housing. One resource for housing ads is the American Church in Paris (ACP), a non-denominational church serving ex-patriots from many countries, not only the United States. I woke up this Sunday morning with the expectation that I would check out their bulletin board and hopefully find an ad for a room within my budget. Instead, I found that their bulletin boards where not yet updated but there were many people gathering for their Sunday worship. I asked someone when the church posts new ads, and she said not until after the service. She also asked if I was planning to stay. Not knowing really what else to do, I decided to stay for the service. Yet the people of the ACP welcomed me, and many other visitors, with open arms. The most meaningful aspect was the pastor's sermon. She spoke of the anxieties we all have and how the peace of God is really the only solace we need, like the child close to its mother's arms (Psalm 131). While I know this to be true, and forget it nearly everyday, it was exactly what I needed to hear today amidst all my anxieties. "We must remember we are children, not orphans, but children of God," she preached. In these whirlwind few days I've had here in France, I've thought too often that I've been orphaned. My impromptu visit to the ACP provided me with the wisdom of the Word that I had forgotten.

It's easy to think we've been abandoned and harder still to accept that we're loved children of God. For this week's readings, the words of Jeremiah correlate with my experiences in France so far. I'm slowly learning that God travels with us (even to McDo's) and will not leave us orphaned. As Jeremiah reminds us, God will "gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who is in travail, together." God brings the marginalized and lost under divine protection. With this consultation, I continue my journey in France, hoping to make several explicit pilgrimages to Lourdes and Taize, but knowing all along that it all is a pilgrimage and I will not be orphaned along the way.