Erin Shaw Street

Nunsense

Ok that was just too easy.

I usually don't watch Oprah in real-time, but was home sick this afternoon. And though I wanted to drag myself to bed I was captivated when I saw she was featuring a group of Dominican Nuns.

For those who don't know, there are many orders of Catholic priests and nuns, like Benedictines (which we have in Cullman, Alabama at the Sacred Heart Monastery) and Dominicans (a group of whom live in Birmingham). Each order has slightly different tradition and missions, although they all have the same Boss.

These Michigan nuns allowed Lisa Ling to spend a day (and night) with them in their home. I'm so happy that they let her in to see their routines and rituals, in part to debunk the misperceptions of what life is like in a convent. For instance, it showed them pulling up their habits to play hockey. Not what most people would expect.

The habits struck a particular chord with me because my two late great aunts were Dominicans. Aunt Nan served for more than 50 years (my family and I celebrated her "golden jubilee") and Aunt Teresa serve for more than 60. Our visits to them in Sparkill, New York, left us with many happy memories of our aunts and their community.

I loved Oprah's piece because they brought viewers inside a world most people (including Catholics) haven't seen. More than that, it showed that nuns are normal people, who laugh, and play cards, and have similar struggles as we all do.

Once, during a college road trip, I visited my Aunt Nan. In between the ice cream that we shared I remember her saying, "you know, we nuns are feminists too," and we got into a long discussion that made me understand just how progressive they were. After all, their mission statement says they "focus on the enablement of the poor, of the powerless, and of the oppressed."

I recognize that same spirit in the Benedictine nuns I visit with in Cullman from time to time. Something aligns in people when they are following their calling. It may not mean running off to join a monastery. The nuns on Oprah were candid that it's certainly not for everyone.

But I'm glad they listened, and thankful to the people who helped tell their stories.

Related Links:

Oprah.com Video: Nuns reflect on the value of silence after the show

Dominican Sisters of Sparkhill

Catholic News Agency: Dominican Nuns To Appear on Oprah

Rituals of the Cloth

Watching Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral. I ran into him once in the hallways of the Russell Senate Office Building -- literally. I was a young intern, rounding a corner, not paying attention when I ran smack into the Lion of the Senate with his big rosy cheeks. It was a slight brush with a giant but as an Irish Catholic raised with reverence for the Kennedys quite a thrill.

Today I'm watching as the world says goodbye, struck by the beautiful ritual of the church. The Prayers of the Faithful, read by his grandchildren, were taken from excerpts of his speeches, which I thought incredible (see video below).

There is something universal about the Mass and the cycles that we go through at births, deaths and transitions.

I  am  moved by the pall, the white cloth, which we saw draped over Kennedy's coffin throughout the Mass. It represents our baptismal cloth, and the redemption of faith.

I wrote this about the significance of the white cloth after Nate's baptism nearly three years ago.

"There was something incredibly reassuring about these layers of tradition. I thought about how at my grandmother's funeral nearly three years ago the priest talked about the white baptism cloth on the casket, and how that represented that she had completed her full journey here and was being born into the next. Our church is a flawed one for sure, but the deep symbolism is pretty powerful and I think more than metaphor. Like Paul Simon sings, 'I was born before my father/and my children before me/and we are born and born again, like the waves of the sea.'"

    These are the traditions that connect us, the fabric that is interwoven with lives of famed politicians and the common man. Reassuring rituals of hope and rebirth.

Back from North Carolina

On each trip I bring back something for Nate.

I try for this something to usually be a book, though at times I fall short and have to get a stuffed something or other at the airport gift shop.

I like to find books about the  places that I have been, so I can share these stories with him, and get him ready for his own adventures.

Yesterday, while in Chapel Hill, NC, I did a first -- ducked into a comic book store when I saw this, a comic book about our president, in the window. For the record:

1)It's a serious comic book
2)It was the first time I've ever been in, let along purchased a comic book
3)Shane was completely rolling his eyes when I gave this to Nate as his "'prise" from this trip

Unfortunately I couldn't bring back this guy below (err, girl) in my suitcase. Her name is Oprah, and I spent the past few days with her and her kids. Get it -- kids! Yeah, I'll keep my day job.

Got to know her during some time on a goat farm, where I learned about the day to day operation of making cheese, running a farm (including goats, cows, and pigs) and an organic garden. But you have to read the rest of that in the magazine.

While there, I also enjoyed sweet lime pickles for the first time. I had no idea that they were a regional delight, but being a pickle aficionado was completely hooked. They were sweet, they were salty, they were homemade deliciousness.

Plus the pickles were made from cucumbers grown on the farm. I am convinced that even I can learn how to pickle pickles, and am on a mission to find out more.

I was somewhere between the chicken coop and the mulberry bush yesterday during the Michael Jackson service, which was a bit odd for a pop culture junkie. Listened to some of it on the drive over to Chapel Hill post-farm.

Then, as I walked on Franklin Street I saw the sign below in a pub window at the same time a truck drove by playing "Billie Jean." 

Heat + standing in a field of pigs + travel can make a girl tired. So when I saw the sign for the Aveda school in Chapel Hill last night I ducked in and got a manicure, a vampy purple.

They said it was a chakra massage, and the technician used oils that were supposed to calm my "root chakra" (which surely needs calming). From their website:

This service combines the art & science of pure flower and plant essences with a variety of massage techniques to ease muscle tensions, soothe the mind, and bring balance to the chakra system.

Not sure if that worked, but my nails look good.