Wednesday will be clothes dying day in the art room of Bishop Maginn High School. Red and I will be there, camera at the ready. Can you imagine? How this came about is a wondrous story.

This dying day reaffirms the idea that good energy draws good energy and good deeds draw other good deeds. In this way, says The Kabbalah, we do the Lord’s work and save the earth from the broken humans.

Jesus, in his own way, said much the same thing. We are on this earth, he preached, to do good, to give of ourselves to the poor and the needy. That is Godliness. Why are we put on this earth? I think Sue Silverstein is showing us why.

I wrote her this morning asking if two of her gifted artists, Paw Lway Shee and Blue will be bringing more paintings to school this week, I think I can sell them.

She wrote back to say she sent some painting supplies home with them this weekend and she hopes they will return with more paintings. There is a waiting list.

It seems that every conversation with Sue yields something good for me as well as others. She and her students give us the opportunity to give and share.

Every time I speak with her, she is planning some good that I want to witness or support. Is that how good energy works?

She wrote  (we are making good mischief together): “I’m planning on Wednesday to be shirt dying day. A member of the Army Of Good (her name is Rosaland) sent a cash donation for art and I asked the kids what they’d love to do. They unanimously voted that they’d like to make dyed clothes for summer so dyed clothes it will be. Bless you today, love to Maria, kiss my dog!”

I could just see that photograph and started drooling (I am a reporter at  heart, nothing makes me happier than a good story). Could I come and take photos?

“Of course it’s okay,” she shot back. “I expect to be covered in dye. I’ve also gotten great e-mail advice on my corn stealing issues, thanks to your blog. Plus I’ve had alumni volunteer to come back and teach guitar and piano when they saw the music on the blog.” She said we were working miracles she had almost given up on.

(She messaged me later that she had just gone out and bought 100 shirts at Wal-Mart.)

Sue Silverstein’s students, many of whom eat from food pantry’s and have lived in shelters and know hunger quite well, are working together to build a garden so they can bring food to a homeless shelter near the school.

I am struck by the connections being made around Bishop Maginn: a mother tells her conductor daughter about the choir, someone else offers a keyboard, Rosaland sends money for art, an organic plant lover sends trays of vegetables for the homeless garden, tuition for two wonderful boys from Pakistan is paid.

Other non-profit institutions I have tried to work with are closed, they let nobody in. Bishop Maginn opens its heart and people respond.  Transparency are both part of my  faith.

Something is going on here that is beyond me, but which is beautiful to see and feel.

My faith is an eclectic patch of diverse ideas, among them, Thomas Merton, Jesus Christ, the Kabbalah, St. Francis and St. Augustine. I feel them all the time, especially when good is happening.

Every thing we do in the world,” preaches the Kabbalah, the ancient writing of Hebrew mystics, “whether it’s studying sacred texts or working to help the poor – must be infused with a yearning for transformation and fulfillment. This is what defines a truly spiritual person, and this is the measure by which his or her actions should be undertaken.”

If you wish to donate to the tuition needs of Bishop Maginn’s refugee students, or donate to the new art or music program, you can do so directly by sending your tax-deductible contribution c/o Mike Tolan to Bishop Maginn High School, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202.

Small donations are as welcome as large ones.

I’m starting a small fund to make sure the Maginn students – many of whom are desperately poor – have shoes, shirts, socks and jackets for the summer, and especially for the winter. Some wear sandals to school in January.

If you wish to help me with this work, you can send donations in any amount via Paypal, [email protected] or to Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Thank you, something quite beautiful is happening here and I am so grateful to be a part of it.