when i encourage my sisters world wide to respect and support one another in our paths to sisterhood, my intention is not to be meddlesome, but to help us actualize the words the SF Mother House has promulgated for more planetary JOY: from the SF Mother House document Universal Vocation promulgated Nov 2011: What Does It Mean to Be a Nun? ....We also acknowledge that even before there was an SPI, Inc. there were queer nuns and we have come to honor the memories of powerful figures like Sister Assumpta and the Order of the Sisters of the Good Time. Our relationships with these other Orders should be characterized by mutual respect and a willingness to recognize what we have in common and how we can work together to bring more JOY into our world. At the same time, we must not paper over the sorry truth that these foundations often spring from bitter rivalries, factions, ego and jealousies within an existing SPI, Inc. house and manifest our shortcomings in living out our JOY and nurturing our relationships. Where these broken origins are present it is the responsibility of every member to search within them and root out the seeds of such divisions and strive for healing and growth towards greater honesty, integrity and unity. Likewise, we must not create confusion among our members or the communities we serve by hiding the differences between SPI, Inc. and other queer orders and we must ensure that no member of SPI, Inc. or another queer order misrepresents our mission or jeopardizes the integrity of our charitable efforts. There is no shame in living our differences openly so long as they manifest the very best of our motivations and call us to bring forth an even more profound JOY. To do this, we must first admit that our egos and wounds, when unacknowledged, cause us to act out, be dishonest, manipulative and hurtful. From the beginning of our Order over thirty years ago, the tension between the JOY we preach and the pain we carry has shaped who we are. This is an inevitable part of our human condition. But it should no longer be an excuse for behavior that tarnishes our mission and shrinks our capacity to experience and promulgate JOY. The vows we share now call us to go deeper. We must be present to the JOY in every moment and vulnerable enough to let it pierce through our armor. We must become servants of a Universal JOY and our every action must reflect our radical commitment to make this JOY known to all.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:04:30 +0000