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revdorothyl at 06:42pm on 12/04/2006
revdorothyl at 06:42pm on 12/04/2006That's what a girl whispered (I presume to me, since she and her male companion were walking away from the large group of young-looking nun-type persons that I was headed towards, and I had seen no nuns behind me) when I was on the homeward stretch of my walk around Radnor Lake this afternoon.
I laughed, quietly, assuming it was meant as a joke, but then as I continued on my way, I wondered:
Was there something in my appearance or manner that suggested to this young woman that I would need to be especially careful around women of the cloth?
Are a bunch of nuns (or possibly nuns-in-training, since some of them were wearing traditional-looking head-dresses, and some merely had their hair in pony-tails) in flowing black or white habits and what looked like work-smocks, strolling through the woods and across the dam on a sunny, warm Wednesday in Holy Week inherently dangerous in some way that I was unaware of?
Anyway, they were very nice when I met some stragglers walking in pairs further up the trail and exchanged a few words with them, and they just seemed to be enjoying a glorious day for walking and admiring the beauty all around them.
(btw, sorry it took me so long to reply to comments on my previous LJ post, but LJ went wonky all of a sudden early yesterday morning and only let me respond to one comment before shutting me out and telling me my LJ was read-only for a while.)
I laughed, quietly, assuming it was meant as a joke, but then as I continued on my way, I wondered:
Was there something in my appearance or manner that suggested to this young woman that I would need to be especially careful around women of the cloth?
Are a bunch of nuns (or possibly nuns-in-training, since some of them were wearing traditional-looking head-dresses, and some merely had their hair in pony-tails) in flowing black or white habits and what looked like work-smocks, strolling through the woods and across the dam on a sunny, warm Wednesday in Holy Week inherently dangerous in some way that I was unaware of?
Anyway, they were very nice when I met some stragglers walking in pairs further up the trail and exchanged a few words with them, and they just seemed to be enjoying a glorious day for walking and admiring the beauty all around them.
(btw, sorry it took me so long to reply to comments on my previous LJ post, but LJ went wonky all of a sudden early yesterday morning and only let me respond to one comment before shutting me out and telling me my LJ was read-only for a while.)
(no subject)
More likely, she thinks there is some special way you're supposed to act around nuns, like curtseying to the queen. She's probably still wondering if she did something wrong.
I've had friends ask me about proper etiquette around nuns. Once, a friend was staying with me at college, and I mentioned some nuns lived on a different floor in the same building. She kept glancing over her shoulder as we went up and down the stairs.
Late the first evening of my friend's stay, a woman in jeans and a sweater stopped by my room to borrow something like tea bags or snack food. She sat on my bed and told a horror story about her trip back from North Jersey via train and a very late bus. She and my friend chatted about things to do in the area and she left.
"Well, you survived," I said.
"What?"
"Meeting your first nun."
"That was a nun???!!!"
"Yes, that's why I introduced her as Sister Barbara."
"I thought Sister was her first name."
(no subject)
Come to think of it, when I used to wear a clergy shirt (with the little white collar tab, not the full white "dog collar" version popular with Episcopalians) to save on official hassles when making hospital calls, I guess people did used to act a little anxious around me. However, most of the time I put it down to the fact that they were working in or visiting a hospital or nursing home, and figured that was enough to make anyone act a little serious and nervous!
"I thought Sister was her first name" is a doozy of a line, and neatly summarizes many non-church people's response to the clergy, even when 'incognito/a'.
(no subject)
We were all a bit shocked to see him behind our pulpit on Sunday. He gushed about how well he'd been treated by us and it was kind of embarrassing."They didn't just invite me into thier home but their family"
We would've just as helpful and friendly to anyone suffering mild heat stroke and as welcoming to any man of God. But I think the misunderstanding might have added just a tiny bit of reverence, maybe.
Very funny considering I have a cousin in the priesthood who's a recovering alcoholic.
(no subject)