Wednesday, July 27, 2005

blogging fool

i am wrapping up a summer semester of grad school (masters in ed. esl) and am free to really check out all those religious blogs out there! as i'm new to blogging everything i find is FASCINATING!
i just joined a new blog ring http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=candlemb;action=list
which is the revgalblogpals. i've found other women who are checking out their religious vocation. musings of a discerning woman can be found at
http://actjustly.blogspot.com/2005/07/revgalblogpals.html and i'll add it to my links soon.
i'll explore the convent files at http://www.acjusa.org/conventfiles.htm in more depth - probably tomorrow during class.
i'm leaving for england on friday to visit the order of the holy paraclete at whitby which i am interested in joining. well, i guess i'll find out if i'm really interested in joining after my visit there, but i trust my instincts a lot, since that's where god talks to me the loudest.
a lot of people ask, since i'm an episcopalian, why don't i become a priest and then i can get married. i can understand why people would ask that. when i was 16 i thought about becoming a priest and i realized i didn't want to be an administrator. i just had no calling to it at all. i do have a calling to religious life however. in another entry, i'll explain what one novice i met called the nun conspiracy, in which god sends reminders to me about my vocation. sometimes these reminders feel relentless, but i've developped a sense of humor about them.

10 comments:

Susan Rose Francois, CSJP said...

Hi Jen!!!! Thanks for commenting on my blog. I'm fascinated to follow you on your journey as well. My e-mail is on the bottom right of my blog. Drop me a line. Have a wonderful trip to England. I look forward to hearing all about it!

Peace,
Susan

PS - the Catholic community I'm discerning with was founded by a former Anglican sister. The community she founded (the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace) are still in England/Ireland, as well as the East & West Coast of the US.

Emily said...

Glad you're in both rings! See you around.

Karen Sapio said...

Is the nun/priest thing really and either-or choice? Some monks are also priests, right? Sorry if I sound really dumb about this---I'm Presbyterian.

Anonymous said...

Your journey with God sounds So interesting. I look forward to reading more :)

Be blessed

Kathryn said...

Shame that Whitby isn't a bit nearer...hope you have a wonderful time there. Greetings to the sisters,who were hugely helpful to me when I was writing an essay on Hilda of Whitby during ordination training...

Lindsay said...

i'd love to email you off blog...re discernment, and i know someone who is discerning ca call to the sisterhood (though rc)...but might be worth talking to...

LutheranChik said...

[rolling eyes at previous post...evidently the trolls are on the march]

Greetings! I'm another newbie on the RevGal webring, and some of my other blogging friends have links to your blog, so I thought I'd drop by and say hello. I am in a three-year ELCA lay ministry training program -- the intent is to equip persons to do lay ministry while keeping a "day job," although the potential is there to work for the church fulltime, and I think the program is also helpful for people discerning a call to pastoral ministry. I am rather new to this program as well; I really enjoy it, but I am now in a discernment process to identify what exactly I want to do with it.;-)

I've had people suggest to me that I should think about seminary, and at one point in my life I considered it...but like you, there are certain aspects of pastoral ministry, like the administrative hassles and inherent church politics of it all, that don't appeal to me at all. I don't know if that's wimpiness on my part or a healthy assessment of my own strengths and weaknesses;-), which I guess is what the discernment process is all about.;-) Anyhow...grace and peace to you on your journey! I'm sure I'll be dropping in again.

mibi52/ The Rev. Dr. Mary Brennan Thorpe said...

Hi, Jen-
I'm going through discernment for the Episcopal preisthood. Much of what you've written resonates for me. I'm really interested in the process for you: I presume it's a good deal different for nuns than for priests.

Anonymous - People find more than one path to reach God, right? Christ is about forgiveness, right? We're called to love one another, right? So what is this rant REALLY about - it's surely not about Jen...

So, anyway, now that I've gotten down off my soapbox, I'm looking forward to reading more from you and wish you a beautiful and blessed trip to Whitby. What's the Episcopal ring address, please?

mibi52/ The Rev. Dr. Mary Brennan Thorpe said...

...and I don't normally misspell "priesthood"...it's been a long day.

Got the Episcopal ring address already.

Blessings, dear!

Anonymous said...

Nice to meet you! Welcome. Mary Beth