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wook77Title: Life is in the Details
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wook77
Rating: PG-13 (I use a cuss word)
Warning: I discuss religion here (both positive and negative viewpoints). Specifically, I discuss the Catholic Church.
Summary: When she told people, they laughed. It wasn't that the situation was funny or that the school was funny or even that the vocation was funny. It was that it was her in that situation, school and vocation.
Theme(s): #30 - School
A/N: The following is my first entry for30_memoirs Please note the warnings. Do not wank because you don't agree with the religion discussed. I will delete if needed.
When she told people, they laughed. It wasn't that the situation was funny or that the school was funny or even that the vocation was funny. It was that it was her in that situation, school and vocation.
Alice studied to be a nun. During college, her second major, her second year, her first full year away from home, she discovered the joys of the Catholic Church through the Newman Center located on campus. There, she was accepted and appreciated, something she hadn't encountered in a very long time.
Alice's time with the Catholic Church was a volatile one.
When she was a child, she went to her first Confession and the priest told her parents everything she confessed to. As a small child, there was no possible way that these infractions were anything large or heinous. Instead, they were she'd taken her sister's toy (envy), she'd hated her parents for denying something (anger wrath greed), she'd kissed a boy (lust), she'd not cleaned her room (sloth), she'd eaten the entire pumpkin pie and lied to her mother (gluttony).
During her Confirmation, she stood up and walked out of the Mass. It was her way of silently protesting the inequality in the Church. Alice had always looked out for David and, in her opinion, women were David, the Church was Goliath.
She ignored her Catholic heritage until college when a friend insisted that she go to the Newman Center. There, she saw what the Catholic Church should be, could be. She was welcomed in to the fold with open arms. The priests, Father Albert and Father Fred, accepted her, cursing, cussing and all.
The best, though, was Sister Kathleen Rose. Even though she suffered from cancer, she never failed to greet everyone with a smile and a hug. More than that, she listened, something Alice hadn't experienced in a very long time.
Alice felt the love that lived in this small Church. She wanted, desperately, to belong there. Sister Kathleen Rose took Alice to an exploratory seminar. With open arms and a smile on her face, Alice embraced the experience.
When they shaved her head, she took a lock and saved it in her memory album. The habit fit comfortably and the wimple hid her bald head. The white wasn't really the truth but she'd confessed and God had forgiven. She was becoming Sister Alice Kathleen.
It was the shoes, in the end, that ended her studies at the Convent. Such a silly thing but the orthopedic shoes were horrendous and Alice couldn't bear to give up that list bit of her identity. Tan orthopedic shoes and Alice left the Convent.
Today, she uses "fuck" far too much, takes the Lord's name in vain and still suffers from sin. She's fine with that because she learned that God loves her anyway, cussing, cursing and all.
The Convent taught her more than any regular school could have taught her. The Convent taught her that it's acceptable to be yourself. Sometimes, it's the big details that make up your identity.
Sometimes, it's the little ones.
Author:
wook77Rating: PG-13 (I use a cuss word)
Warning: I discuss religion here (both positive and negative viewpoints). Specifically, I discuss the Catholic Church.
Summary: When she told people, they laughed. It wasn't that the situation was funny or that the school was funny or even that the vocation was funny. It was that it was her in that situation, school and vocation.
Theme(s): #30 - School
A/N: The following is my first entry for
30_memoirs Please note the warnings. Do not wank because you don't agree with the religion discussed. I will delete if needed.When she told people, they laughed. It wasn't that the situation was funny or that the school was funny or even that the vocation was funny. It was that it was her in that situation, school and vocation.
Alice studied to be a nun. During college, her second major, her second year, her first full year away from home, she discovered the joys of the Catholic Church through the Newman Center located on campus. There, she was accepted and appreciated, something she hadn't encountered in a very long time.
Alice's time with the Catholic Church was a volatile one.
When she was a child, she went to her first Confession and the priest told her parents everything she confessed to. As a small child, there was no possible way that these infractions were anything large or heinous. Instead, they were she'd taken her sister's toy (envy), she'd hated her parents for denying something (anger wrath greed), she'd kissed a boy (lust), she'd not cleaned her room (sloth), she'd eaten the entire pumpkin pie and lied to her mother (gluttony).
During her Confirmation, she stood up and walked out of the Mass. It was her way of silently protesting the inequality in the Church. Alice had always looked out for David and, in her opinion, women were David, the Church was Goliath.
She ignored her Catholic heritage until college when a friend insisted that she go to the Newman Center. There, she saw what the Catholic Church should be, could be. She was welcomed in to the fold with open arms. The priests, Father Albert and Father Fred, accepted her, cursing, cussing and all.
The best, though, was Sister Kathleen Rose. Even though she suffered from cancer, she never failed to greet everyone with a smile and a hug. More than that, she listened, something Alice hadn't experienced in a very long time.
Alice felt the love that lived in this small Church. She wanted, desperately, to belong there. Sister Kathleen Rose took Alice to an exploratory seminar. With open arms and a smile on her face, Alice embraced the experience.
When they shaved her head, she took a lock and saved it in her memory album. The habit fit comfortably and the wimple hid her bald head. The white wasn't really the truth but she'd confessed and God had forgiven. She was becoming Sister Alice Kathleen.
It was the shoes, in the end, that ended her studies at the Convent. Such a silly thing but the orthopedic shoes were horrendous and Alice couldn't bear to give up that list bit of her identity. Tan orthopedic shoes and Alice left the Convent.
Today, she uses "fuck" far too much, takes the Lord's name in vain and still suffers from sin. She's fine with that because she learned that God loves her anyway, cussing, cursing and all.
The Convent taught her more than any regular school could have taught her. The Convent taught her that it's acceptable to be yourself. Sometimes, it's the big details that make up your identity.
Sometimes, it's the little ones.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-23 10:50 pm (UTC)Also, that comm sounds really cool....
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Date: 2006-05-24 12:23 am (UTC)I'm glad that you liked the way it was written.
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Date: 2006-05-24 12:19 am (UTC)BTW, my mom loves those shoes. ;) :P :D But then, she's 69. M.
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Date: 2006-05-24 12:25 am (UTC)I'm so glad you liked it. Whenever anyone asks for the most shocking fact about me, this is the one I always pick. It's also the anniversary of Sister Kathleen Rose's death this week so I thought I might honor her with this.
Ugh, I hated them. I felt so ugly and dowdy and just blech. They were comfortable, though, I'll give them that ;)
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Date: 2006-05-24 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-26 07:27 pm (UTC)So, yes, I did study to be a nun ;)
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Date: 2006-05-24 05:23 am (UTC)http://kungfooqueen.livejournal.com/269826.html
So much ♥. two more chapters to go!!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-26 09:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-26 07:28 pm (UTC)Thanks!!!!
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Date: 2006-05-26 11:08 pm (UTC)Sometimes, it's the little ones.
That's absolutely gorgeous.
I saw you say this was actually you...really? I want to know more!
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Date: 2006-05-26 11:37 pm (UTC)Yeah, it really was me. I spent about 6 months at the Convent studying to be a nun. It was a lovely time. I've never felt more at peace, honestly.
It was very communal and studious. I loved learning stuff. The Dominicans are wonderful people, they really are.
But they wanted me to "burn" my leopard print mules and I just couldn't do it. I mean, they're my favorite pair of shoes. Have been for about 10 years (and omg, I feel old typing that out). I just couldn't do it. I stood there and froze and looked from my shoes to the orthopedic ones and back again and I just couldn't. It was like they wanted the fun in my life gone or something.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-28 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-11 11:24 pm (UTC)Would you consider sharing this piece with others?
asid.magazine@gmail.com
no subject
Date: 2006-09-01 12:07 am (UTC)♥
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Date: 2006-09-29 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-06 02:25 pm (UTC)Ack - the thing with the confessional is horrible. What a serious breach of that priest's integrity.
This is wonderful. I like the way you described the good and bad sides of the Catholic church - that is very much my experience too, and it's something that I find hard to explain.