Sisters

Maybe because I saw the Sound of Music cast reunion on Oprah. Perhaps since I am taking my own vows soon and giving up my worldly possessions and clothes temporarily. I am interested in nuns lately. Growing up Protestant, I mostly observed them in movies and wondered at the beautiful old convents that I was told were empty or had become schools or wineries. I'm reading the memoir of a woman who became a nun in the 60's.

As she talks about the the community she finds in the sisterhood, I keep imagining living in a convent full of my friends. We all have the old habits. I walk down to the kitchen in the morning to find Sister Susan kneading bread in the kitchen. She is inspired because Sister Sarah is in the room next door practicing an organ piece to play at mass later that day. Sister Elizabeth has just hauled a basket of green beans in from her garden to string. Sister Joanne is taking an aged nun for a walk on the grounds to get a break from the infirmary. I'm heading up to the library to dust.

Would we survive? Would we thrive in contemplative life? Everything changed about nuns in the 60's as they gave up habits, convents, and saint names. Still it's interesting to consider the merits of that life-- being set apart and belonging to a community forever. Just know, friends, that I'm thinking of you and imagining you in a veil. And snickering just a little...