Nuns and Clowns

 

My good friend sent a note to our small group telling us about her fear of nuns. When she was a little girl she had to choose between creativity and rule following and got whacked by a nun for the choice she made.  

I don't think she's really afraid of nuns but we do know there's such a thing as having irrational fears about nuns - and clowns.  

All of this reminded me of something that happened over 50 years ago.  My husband, Ken, was an urban minister in South Florida.  In response to a critical housing shortage for the poor we (I was a volunteer for this ministry) were able to get a 501(c)(3) grant to build an apartment complex for low income people in downtown Fort Lauderdale.  Ken was a master at getting people to volunteer, so much of the work, including the architect and construction folks, was done for free. 

A few months after completion, big problems developed due to drug use and other activities of the tenants and others in the neighborhood.  After trying a number of solutions including inviting tenants to be on the board, the problems remained.  It wasn't a safe place for children, especially on the weekends. 

But then Ken was able to talk a group of three nuns into moving into a ground floor apartment.  This changed everything.  Almost overnight.  These nuns were fearless.  And rebellious.  They were in the forefront of  nuns choosing not to wear habits.  Except on Friday and Saturday nights when bad things were likely to happen.  The habit wearing nuns scared the drug dealers and intimidated the cops. 

Today we have our famous Apopka nuns who advocate for impoverished migrant workers.  And they've been noted for scaring some elected officials as well. 

So, here's the thing.  I'm not afraid of nuns but I know they can be crazy intimating and I'm grateful when they use their power for good. 

I am, however, one of those people who has had a lifelong irrational fear of clowns. 

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Boogie Woogie

 

Adam Zagajewski was a polish poet and novelist.  In 2004 he was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for literature.  He died this past March, leaving us a vast collection of his wise words.

Along with the rest of you on this planet, I've had to moderate the bad news I can handle on a given day.  A while back, as I was thumbing through my New Yorker Magazine, I saw a poem by Adam Zagajewski.  Both the poet and the magazine are noted for their heavy handed poems. 

But this was totally different.  I torn the page out and have read it multiple times.  It holds a truth for all of us.  This is the kind of place I need to go each and every day in order to stay sane and healthy.  

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We Still Love Our Guns

Thanks to all of you who've let me know you've missed my frequent blog postings. After posting close to 2,000 thousand pages since I started this blog in 2007, I'm winding down a bit. 

 But I though you might enjoy this one I wrote in 2009. It's still relevant and it's a reminder of our fear of, and love affair with, guns.  And it's daunting to think about all the gun related tragedies that have happened since 2009. 

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 Today's newspaper ran a full page ad for guns. There were pictures of several Smith and Wesson handguns, including a Military Police 9mm. Also a few Glocks. Now I know almost nothing about guns but I have seen enough "Law and Order" episodes to know that you don't need a Glock to hunt rabbits. The ad was scary. A while back I saw a related story. A minister in Kentucky was advociating "Bring Your Gun to Church" day. Got me to thinking how we could expand this concept to bringing other things we love to church. 

 How about: "Bring Your Pit Bull to Church" day. I know several people who love their pit bulls. Probably many of the same people who love their guns. They could bring both. 

 Or how about "Bring Your Chain Saw to Church" day. There's a lovely lady in my church who wears make up and jewelry but she also clears brush and levels trees and has taken her chain saw on local mission trips for years. She told me she loves her chain saw.

 I sort of doubt that any of the above will happen at my church but if anybody's planning an event of this nature, please give me ample advance notice. 

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