the power of story

Last year, well a year and a half ago at this point, when I first starting admitting to another human being that maybe God had some plans for me, my pastor gave me the Vision magazine to flip through. My initial thought was “Woah ... It’s a BIG church.” For those unfamiliar, Vision is a magazine from the national vocation folks and is sort of the religious life version of a college catalog. It has articles and lots of ads for every religious community imaginable in the US. I particularly loved the juxtaposition of an ad featuring a habited sister at prayer on her knees in a chapel next to an ad say of a street clothed sister working with the poor in the inner city. Good vocations all. Something for everybody. My second thought was, “Hmmm.. Not a magazine to give to someone who’s not so sure about the whole thing.” It’s a bit overwhelming. But fun to flip through at the same time.

I just read the latest issue. What I noticed this time around was not the multitude and variety of communities, but the power of story. This year there’s a story of a BMX semi-super star turned priest. A Benedictine sister (here in Oregon!) who was a triathalon champion before finding herself climbing trees at the monastery. A missionary who had a mystical-like experience at Medjugorje. A Rwanadan priest who said his first mass after his family and village had been massacred.

A multitide and variety of stories, that are really all about the same thing. The love, joy and freedom that comes from answering God’s call. It’s something I’m getting glimpses of. As I told an old friend of mine this weekend, it’s kind of funny. I spent SO many years ignoring this. Why would I want to become a Sister? I focused on what I saw as limiting in religious life, when in reality my experiences so far give me a feeling deep within that this is where my freedom to be me lies. I won’t get caught up in the, what if I’d figured this out years ago game. I wasn’t ready, and to be honest I’m still mystified (and thankful) as to how I got to this point.

Story. Kind of the point of this blog. Sharing my story, as well as the results of random internet tests and musings about the world. Thanks to the rest of you, my bloggy friends, for sharing your stories as well. There’s good things happening here in the blogosphere.

Peace Out,
Susan