Finding mentors who will both support and challenge a teacher to grow is key to that teacher's ability to claim his or her calling as one who teaches and empowers others to join in their faith journeys as life-long learners. The author believes that religious educators must continually hone their skills to read the contexts where they teach as well as the contexts of their communities and the world. Reading contexts requires them to see and to listen in deep ways. They must be willing to step out of their own shoes and into the shoes of others as they "practice empathy" and "engage in dialogue." Here, the author offers pieces of advice for new religious educators on what they are called to do--each in their own contextually appropriate and age-appropriate ways. She also shares what she believes must be a part of the agenda for religious educators in the 21st century.