Judith Valente's Blog: Mindfulness in the Age of Twitter - Posts Tagged "nuns"

I participated in a very interesting video conference call this week. It was a conversation organized by a group called “Nuns and Nones.” The monthly calls bring together Catholic sisters from religious orders across the country with young people in their twenties and thirties, many of whom have no particular religious affiliation, the so-called “nones.”

Nuns and “nones” might seem like unlikely partners. Some of the young people on the call might more accurately describe themselves as spiritual seekers. What draws the two groups together is a mutual hunger for social justice, a strong desire for community, and the growing belief that there is much about society – and institutional religion in particular— that needs to change.

The Pew Research Center identifies those who are religiously unaffiliated as among the fastest growing segments on America’s religious landscape. About a third of all Millennials identify as nones, or not affiliated. These same polls also show that Millennials, while eschewing much of the male patriarchy of institutional religion, remain drawn to the gospel values of mercy, justice, and peace.
Enter U.S. Catholic sisters – the women we so often find on the front lines of ministering to the families on the border and in detention centers, the inmates in our prisons, the hungry in our soup kitchens, the sick and infirm in our hospitals and nursing homes, the children growing up amid violence in too many inner city neighborhoods.

The conversation I participated in centered on how to engage with others who might have a different perspective. One young woman wanted to know how to work with people whose views on homosexuality differed from her own sense of justice and equality. These young men and women also wanted to know what contemplative practices the sisters find helpful in negotiating conflicting points of view.

It was a stunning example of cross-generational dialogue. Many of the Catholic sisters involved are three times older than the young nones and seekers. What struck me was how honest the sisters allow themselves to be. They related their own struggles in trying to respond compassionately to people with whom they don’t agree. One told of an encounter with a person who argued that families arrested at the border are only getting what they deserve. Another told of a confronting her own father about his views on women and minorities. They told of struggling to keep in check their own biases and judgments.

Not surprisingly, the sisters stressed the importance of respectful listening. As one sister described it, “Listening for the places where there might be an opening” for discovering common ground.

Among some of the practices they suggested: in a group where there is bound to be conflict, begin by observing 10 minutes of silence. Be intentional about having a cup of coffee with those whom you know think and feel differently than you do. Be curious about what informs another person’s point of view. Most of all, make building relationship – and not winning or convincing – the priority.

Catholic sisters in the U.S. proved themselves models of this in how they responded several years ago to two investigations by the Vatican under Pope Benedict XVII. They didn’t react with anger or vitriol, but by seeking collegiality with their accusers. They showed their faithfulness by discussing their beliefs and their ministries respectfully and with dignity. In doing so, they taught us all how to respond to injustice.

Several of the young people on the Nuns and Nones conference call referred to how the sisters had handled this difficult time. I came away from the conversation with hope for our future as a nation. In a sad, chaotic, and too often unkind period in our history, these young people are choosing community over conflict, consensus over competition, listening over talking, and dialogue over division.

You might not find the Nones in the Sunday pews. But clearly their hearts yearn to make a difference. Their hearts yearn for something larger than themselves. They, in their way, are seeking God. In that sense, they have a great deal in common with the Catholic sisters. They have turned to these wise women for help in sorting through their questions. And who better than these true practitioners of the gospel to companion these young women and men on the journey?

For more information on Nuns and Nones, go to the group’s website (www.nunsandnones.org) and read about them in the Global Sisters Report: www.globalsistersreport.org/news/tren...

With all the chaos and confusion swirling around our country, I was fortunate enough this past week to have several experiences that have filled me with hope. My speaking engagements brought me to four places in two states where I encountered people who are helping to make America good.

My first stop was The Upper House on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Upper House is a private institute founded by UW alumni Stephen and Laurel Brown to inspire students, faculty, staff, clergy, community members, and local professionals to work for the common good. The motto of The Upper House is “Think, Be, Do,” a recognition that our actions emerge from our character — the being we become by cultivating an interior life.

It was heartening to visit a public campus where gospel values are discussed not in a didactic or doctrinal way, but as a way of recognizing that caring for one another is the one best hope for our world. The executive director of The Upper House is John Terrill, someone I’ve long admired for his work connecting faith-based ethics with the work world. The program curator is Melissa Haunty, an energetic young woman experienced in bridging the arts and faith.

Because of John and Melissa, I was able to speak in this public space about “Monastic Wisdom for the 21st Century.” My talk drew an audience of people from different religious backgrounds and stages of life. It was a testament, I believe, to how so many of us are looking at what is happening in our country and drawing closer to the timeless monastic values of community, consensus-building, hospitality, humility, simplicity, prayer and praise.

My next stop was Holy Wisdom Monastery just outside of Madison. Twenty-five years ago, some Benedictine sisters had the vision of creating an ecumenical monastic community where single Christian women – both Catholic and Protestant – live, pray, and work together, following the gospels and monastic Rule of St. Benedict.

The Holy Wisdom sisters have a special ministry of care of the land. They have restored 100 acres of prairie on the land the monastic community owns that also includes a glacial kettle lake, woods and wetlands. Their stone monastery is a wonder of eco-friendly technology. Holy Wisdom is an oasis of peace and natural sanctuary just outside the city. It is also an example of why Benedictine monastic life has lasted 1,600 years. It has endured by adapting unchanging to the changing needs of every age.

Later in the week, I arrived at Mother of God Monastery, which rises like a great white mirage on the South Dakota prairie. I was invited to give a series of conferences on some of the main themes of the Benedictine Rule, including “Waking Up,” “Seeking the True Self” and “Esteem for silences.

The sisters originally came to Watertown, South Dakota, to teach, but their main mission in recent years has been to return to St. Benedict’s original vision of monastic life as encompassing prayer, spiritual guidance, and work within the monastery. It is of great comfort to know these sisters stop in the middle of whatever they are doing three times a day to pray for our country and our world. They pray for our political leaders, for the people who feel alone, the people who are ill, who need work, who will die today.

Visiting a Trappist monastery for the first time, Thomas Merton once said, “Now I know what has been holding the world together and keeping it from cracking into pieces.” I felt that way hearing the beautiful sung prayer of these Benedictine sisters in South Dakota.

It is also difficult to put into words the warm hospitality you experience at Mother of God Monastery. On my first visit there, my husband and I drove up to the monastery at night. Out of the darkness emerged this tiny woman in a hooded coat accompanied by a Husky dog. It was Sister Emily Meisel. She approached us with her arms extended. It was the first time we were meeting, and I will always remember that gesture of welcome. Since then, I’ve modeled that gesture many times in welcoming people to my own home for the first time. Thank you Sister Emily.

A song the sisters sang at Mass this morning, “I Will Choose Christ,” says so much about them: “I will choose love, I choose to serve, I give my heart, I give my all to you.” If you have a chance to pass through Watertown, South Dakota, do stop in and say hello and express gratitude for all these sisters have contributed to the people of the Dakotas. Even better, attend one of the many spirituality programs Sister Emily offers at the monastery’s Harmony Hill Retreat Center.

My last stop today will be a meeting with students of Mount Marty College’s Watertown campus who have been studying The Rule of St. Benedict with the help of my book, How To Live: What The Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning and Community. The students will be presenting their creative projects that illuminate the Benedictine values of community, listening, awareness of God, hospitality, caring for creation, stability in a moving world, lifelong learning, and work. I’ll write more about that in a future column.

I’d like to leave you today with a comment from my dear friend Denise Morris of Fargo, North Dakota, who attended my conferences this weekend. Denise said she thought the 2016 election caused an eruption of the negative energy of envy, greed, anger, and racial and class divisions that had been roiling for many years under the surface.

Now that this energy is out in the open, perhaps we can decide what kind of nation we want to be. Denise asks: “Are we going to choose this negative energy, or work for good?” An important question to ponder this week and for long after.