Conversation in the park

Scene: Riverfront Park on a beautiful sunny day. Me sitting on a bench soaking it all in. Wearing my CSJP t-shirt with our Peace Cross on the front.

Random Stranger (RS): Can I bum a cigarette off you?
Me: I don't have one. Don't smoke.
RS: Where's the butt at? (presumably not believing I don't smoke.)
Me: Sorry. Not a smoker.  No cigarettes or butts to offer.  I do have some ice you can have (brandishing my cup of ice ... he looked to be suffering from the heat.)
RS: [silent pause followed by apparent blank stare, but apparently looking at my tshirt].  What's peace for? Like a hippy?
Me: Actually it's for the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace. I'm a Catholic nun.
RS: Really?
Me: Yep.
RS: [confused look squinting trying to figure it out]
Me: That's why my shirt says peace, it's inside our peace cross.
RS: [continued silent stare]
Me: Have a nice day!
RS: [walks away]

... priceless.  You can't make this stuff up!

peace cross in design

I'm not the flowing veil and habit wearing kind of nun, but I do wear my peace cross faithfully every day. Our Constitutions say we dress simply and wear our peace cross as a special sign of our identity as a Sister of St Joseph of Peace. I've written before about some of the comments I get about our peace cross.

This morning I was taking a computer class at a local nonprofit to try to demystify Adobe InDesign, a program I use sometimes to make print publications. I've been using computers since elementary school and generally can figure out any program. InDesign is not intuitive to me, so I broke down and took a class which was quite helpful.

Towards the end of class this morning, my instructor Mike said to me, "Susan, I've been noticing your necklace. What organization did you say you're with again?".

So I told him I worked at a local peace and justice nonprofit, but that I was also a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace. "Wow," he said as two of my classmates sitting in the row ahead swung back to take a look at this strange specimen, a nun. "I never would have guessed you were a Sister," he said, then, somewhat unexpectedly given that he was a) a man and b) a computer instructor, he said "I would have loved to have been a nun working for peace."

Seriously.

I love the Peace Cross. It so simply states our charism of peace through justice. As a muslim shop keeper in England told me years ago, it is a beautiful Christian message. And it stands out and starts conversations. In a way, it's more subtle than a habit would be and helps me to connect with people sometimes at an unexpectedly deep level. Other times I just get the blank stare. But whenever anyone asks me about my peace cross, it gives me a chance to share about our charism and lets people know that yes, people still do take the leap into religious life.

PS - blogger is being goofy and I can't post a picture of the peace cross right now. But if you go to this page, you can see it.

Musings on the Peace Cross

"We recognize our Peace Cross
as a special symbol of identity with the congregation."
~CSJP Constitutions

Every morning since August 26, 2006 (my date of reception as I novice), I have put my Peace Cross around my neck with a short and simple prayer to be a woman of peace. As our Constitutions say, the Peace Cross is a special symbol of my identity as a Sister of St Joseph of Peace. It not only identifies me as a CSJP, but is full of meaning for me personally.

This afternoon I realized that although I've been wearing the Peace Cross for over a year, it's only been the past month here in London that I've worn it out and about "in the world." Last year I wore it at the Novitiate House, or our Intercommunity Classes, or at the hospital which is sponsored by our community. Hence, although it was full of meaning for me I never got much comment on it.

A few weeks ago a Muslim shopkeeper commented on my Peace Cross, saying that it was a nice Christian message. Last week one of the clients at the day center said to me in French - he is Congolese - that "La Paix etes avec vous." And today, I had a young woman tell me she really liked it and where could she get one?!

The Peace Cross has always seemed "right" to me. It's by no means what attracted me to the CSJP's, and it's not that it's a nice fashion statement. As I said it just feels right.

• It does identify me as a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace, which I think is important. We may not wear traditional habits but our Peace Cross is a public witness of who we are and what we are about.
• It is a universal message that we share with those we interact with each day.
• It reminds me of our charism and the values on which I choose to center my life.

As our Constitutions say:

"Christ is our peace,

the source of our power.

United with him

we engage in the struggle

against the reality of evil

and continue the work

of establishing God's reign

of justice and peace."