I read widely in order to be informed and to let new, different information form me. If we only read the stuff with which we agree and from people we know, we effectively put ourselves in a rut. We develop what the psychologists call “confirmation bias.” The more we read that agrees with how we think, the more we think we are right and that we have truth. Of course, I don’t deny that some things I think are true. I just want to be open and be humble.
I especially like to read about people doing things I never did or, perhaps, that I don’t have the courage to do. One category of people like this is the monastic crowd. I like to read about what monks and nuns are up to. Of course, I know a fair number of people who have taken a monastic vow. As I first began to get to know them, I was surprised how “normal” they were! Obviously, this says much more about me than about them.
One such person I recently read about was Sister Patricia McCormick. She joined the Sisters of Loretto some fifty years ago. I know a little about this particular group since there is a Loretta house quite near the Abbey of Gethsemani, the Kentucky monastery of Thomas Merton, about whom I have written a great deal. Another thing I know is the mission focus of the Loretto Sisters. This is where the story of Sister Patricia enters the picture.
The title of the article I read speaks for itself: “Q & A with Sr. Patricia McCormick, preaching peace for 50 years.” The now eighty-one-year old has spent much of her life in Central America and, now, in Denver. Interestingly, she was a close friend of Daniel Berrigan and has been involved with young members of Black Lives Matter. She shares that she became involved in peace work because of what she witnessed in Central America. We know that the American government had some complicity in supporting repressive regimes in a number of the Central American countries. As she claims, we were not always there because of justice. The power of her life for me is the radical attempt to live as Jesus lived. That is more than I manage most of the time.
She became involved in anti-nuclear protests in this country. Again, I applaud her witness and the courage that underscores that witness. Even if I were to disagree with her, I admire the clarity of her position and the appeal to the gospel that witness represents. I must admit, I find it hard to imagine Jesus being pro-nuclear arms. I am confident he would talk about security in different ways than most of the people I know. Sister Patricia is a good challenge for me and my own complacency.
I very much liked the question the author of the article, Dawn Araujo-Hawkins, posed to Sr. Patricia. She asked, “Where do you see the Holy Spirit in the peace movement?” And I like Sr. Patricia’s answer. She begins by noting, “The fact is, they always say diversity brings out opportunity, diversity makes us more creative, and I think that creativeness is from the Holy Spirit.” Let’s unpack this sentence. She talks about diversity, opportunity and creativity.
In the first place, she says that diversity brings out opportunity. Oddly, Sr. Patricia underscores what I shared in the beginning about reading people different than I am. We all know there is diversity in our world. In fact, there is usually significant diversity in our local communities. Those of us in the majority---in my case a white male, etc.---can overlook diversity. We think the world is “ours.” Indeed, it is “ours,” but the “ours” is bigger than we typically think. We can learn to appreciate how important it is that diversity does bring opportunity. We need to learn how to take advantage of opportunity.
Secondly, diversity makes us more creative. I know first-hand this is true. Much of what I think about and write about springs from the time I spend with people different than I am. They provoke new ways of seeing myself and my world. I am grateful for that.
Finally, she says that creativeness if from the Holy Spirit. I trust that is true and hope it is true. I certainly see God as creative. And I see God hoping that we can be creative, too. After all, I join the theologians who teach that we co-create this world alongside God. Of course, all too often, our creativity makes a mess of things instead of making miracles. Maybe this is what war and violence do: they make a mess instead of miracles.
At the end of her interview, Sr. Patricia approvingly cites the work of Amy Goodwin. Goodwin asks big questions. One of these questions Sr. Patricia offers us is great: “How are we really going to be faithful to being one people?” The “one people” is not just those people from my own tribe. The “one people” is the large, global community of which I am a miniscule part. The call to be faithful is a bigger call than the call to be American. It is a call to be faithful to all of God’s people.
This is the call---the call of Jesus---that Sr. Patricia has answered. It makes me ponder what call I have answered. I want to share her call: the call to be faithful to being one people.
I especially like to read about people doing things I never did or, perhaps, that I don’t have the courage to do. One category of people like this is the monastic crowd. I like to read about what monks and nuns are up to. Of course, I know a fair number of people who have taken a monastic vow. As I first began to get to know them, I was surprised how “normal” they were! Obviously, this says much more about me than about them.
One such person I recently read about was Sister Patricia McCormick. She joined the Sisters of Loretto some fifty years ago. I know a little about this particular group since there is a Loretta house quite near the Abbey of Gethsemani, the Kentucky monastery of Thomas Merton, about whom I have written a great deal. Another thing I know is the mission focus of the Loretto Sisters. This is where the story of Sister Patricia enters the picture.
The title of the article I read speaks for itself: “Q & A with Sr. Patricia McCormick, preaching peace for 50 years.” The now eighty-one-year old has spent much of her life in Central America and, now, in Denver. Interestingly, she was a close friend of Daniel Berrigan and has been involved with young members of Black Lives Matter. She shares that she became involved in peace work because of what she witnessed in Central America. We know that the American government had some complicity in supporting repressive regimes in a number of the Central American countries. As she claims, we were not always there because of justice. The power of her life for me is the radical attempt to live as Jesus lived. That is more than I manage most of the time.
She became involved in anti-nuclear protests in this country. Again, I applaud her witness and the courage that underscores that witness. Even if I were to disagree with her, I admire the clarity of her position and the appeal to the gospel that witness represents. I must admit, I find it hard to imagine Jesus being pro-nuclear arms. I am confident he would talk about security in different ways than most of the people I know. Sister Patricia is a good challenge for me and my own complacency.
I very much liked the question the author of the article, Dawn Araujo-Hawkins, posed to Sr. Patricia. She asked, “Where do you see the Holy Spirit in the peace movement?” And I like Sr. Patricia’s answer. She begins by noting, “The fact is, they always say diversity brings out opportunity, diversity makes us more creative, and I think that creativeness is from the Holy Spirit.” Let’s unpack this sentence. She talks about diversity, opportunity and creativity.
In the first place, she says that diversity brings out opportunity. Oddly, Sr. Patricia underscores what I shared in the beginning about reading people different than I am. We all know there is diversity in our world. In fact, there is usually significant diversity in our local communities. Those of us in the majority---in my case a white male, etc.---can overlook diversity. We think the world is “ours.” Indeed, it is “ours,” but the “ours” is bigger than we typically think. We can learn to appreciate how important it is that diversity does bring opportunity. We need to learn how to take advantage of opportunity.
Secondly, diversity makes us more creative. I know first-hand this is true. Much of what I think about and write about springs from the time I spend with people different than I am. They provoke new ways of seeing myself and my world. I am grateful for that.
Finally, she says that creativeness if from the Holy Spirit. I trust that is true and hope it is true. I certainly see God as creative. And I see God hoping that we can be creative, too. After all, I join the theologians who teach that we co-create this world alongside God. Of course, all too often, our creativity makes a mess of things instead of making miracles. Maybe this is what war and violence do: they make a mess instead of miracles.
At the end of her interview, Sr. Patricia approvingly cites the work of Amy Goodwin. Goodwin asks big questions. One of these questions Sr. Patricia offers us is great: “How are we really going to be faithful to being one people?” The “one people” is not just those people from my own tribe. The “one people” is the large, global community of which I am a miniscule part. The call to be faithful is a bigger call than the call to be American. It is a call to be faithful to all of God’s people.
This is the call---the call of Jesus---that Sr. Patricia has answered. It makes me ponder what call I have answered. I want to share her call: the call to be faithful to being one people.
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