nuns in the blogosphere

i got my newsletter from the community of the holy spirit, of which i am an associate, in the mail this week and read that a few of the sisters are blogging now. oooh! more blogging nuns. i'm telling you, this nun blogging thing is going to change people's opinions about nuns. i know the three nuns whose blogs i have included on my list of blogs i like and i would say they are sr. mary alternatives, especially sr. catherine grace, who is a snarky nun. she writes about the sacred lessons learned from getting duck doo-doo on her shoes.

i would like to report that i am now keeping my feet on the edge of the seat opposite me on the subway this week, rather than plunk down in the middle of the seat.

a very un-nunlike moment

i'm stressing out big time. i have an old great-auntie in hospice in florida. i am maintaining her house and about to start working out probate (no will) which is a nightmare of epic proportions. i'm pretty broke and paying the bills on her house, let alone my own home, is hard.
i was on the subway after a complete day of teaching 19 seven-year olds, on my way to grad school for the evening. i had my feet up on the seat across from me. i'm on my feet all day and just sitting is not enough of a relief. i need them up and the subway in nyc is disgusting anyway so feet up is not too frowned upon.
except to the lady who got on at the next stop. she snapped her fingers in my face and told me to get my feet off so she could sit in the seat next to where my feet were. nyc is pretty intense. the energy and pace of the city is fast and stressful. tempers flare easily. hers and mine. we ended up screaming at each other and cursing. grrrrrr.... it's one thing when a nut job yells at me - goodness knows we have plenty of screaming mimi's here. but I was a nut job too this time. i did not take the higher ground and keep silent or move to another car. i didn't even take my feet off, just for spite! oohh, it was a bad day and may even end up on my life confession when i get to that point.
nuns have to make a confession to a priest of THEIR ENTIRE LIVES!!!
nowadays when i am encouraged to take part in something i know is not spiritually sound but sounds tempting, i ask myself if i want to confess it to a priest. if the answer is no, then i don't do it. i've got enough to keep a priest busy as it is. i don't need to add more.
when i got to class i told a friend about my subway argument. she said, "that's not very nun-like!" i told her to shut the fluff up. to which she replied, "and that's not very nun-like either!" ugh. hoisted on my own petard!
last night i worried so much about money and how i was going to manage all this i could barely sleep. i woke up at 4 am from a nightmare and could not sleep again. i told god, i really can't handle this. my life if unmanageable because of my fear and bad attitude about money. i need help and badly. i need help to feel better about this, and i need money. i was starting to doze a bit and i heard a soft voice in my head (but it wasn't my own voice) say, "oh, jen. oh, jen." it sounded slightly exasperated but strangely reassuring at the same time. the tone of "oh, jen" was as if to say, "everything's going to be alright. you'll see. you've been in tight situations before and i've always taken care of you. i will take care of you here, too."
when i got up to go to work i meditated and turned all my money worries over to god, while promising to act according to god's will as best i can understand that.
i took some actions today, calling a lawyer and starting to map this mess out a bit. i also spoke to a trusted friend who is going through something similar. just talking with her made me feel so much better.
i feel alone in taking care of this, but, of course, i'm not. i have god. i have friends, really good friends.
my attitudes and my fear are my worst enemy. i read that the opposite of love isn't evil, it's fear. i need to remind myself of that around this house business.

katrina update

i heard on npr that craigslist had a lot of help for katrina victims. i just checked out craigslist for new orleans and there were literally hundreds of offers for free housing in people's homes all over the u.s. for victims of katrina. however, i also heard that if people do take that option, there's no food for them, like there is in shelters. ugh! and since people from the hurricaine area can't get to their bank accounts yet and have probably lost their jobs and have no income, they are screwed in that respect.
if you can shelter pets that have lost their homes while their owners look for a new situation, craigslist has a list for that.

katrina

episcopal relief and development

my great-aunt lives in florida and is in a nursing home so i'm trying to see how her empty house can be used. if you know any snow birds, suggest the same to them. soon as i find out, i'll post more info.

pray. esp. for the children who are being abused in the shelters. and the rape victims in the shelters. it's pretty creepy.