Unveiled

• Unveiled: The Hidden Lives of Nuns - Cheryl L. Reed

This one was rather fun and a bit of an eye opener. It really takes away a lot of the stereotypes that we have of nuns. Reed travels all over the United States visiting a variety of different orders - from the extremely cloistered to those who live in apartments and have jobs in the community. She teaches her readers that nuns are not always spiritual saints. Many nuns struggle with their spirituality; and some have even looked to Buddhism and other spiritual religions/philosophies to help them define their own relationships with God. For instance, one lady says her daily prayers, but spends more time meditating in order to discover her own self and her believes believing that end the end that added knowledge of self will enable her to have a better relationship with God. Some of the women question the infallibility of the pope, the fact that women cannot be priests, and the celibacy issue (not that they want to break the vow, but the fact that it leads to the even bigger issues that the church is currently having to deal with). They're not all perfect cookie cutter Catholics and it's nice to know that you're not any less of a person because you question God at points throughout your life. Many of the women believe that through this questioning you build a better, stronger relationship with God.
While she describes the daily lives of those who spend the majority of their day in prayer and have taken vows of silence, it is her descriptions of the more modern sisters that almost make you want to seek out a nunnery just to see these women in actions. When I say "seek out" I'm not referring to feeling like you should go join one, but that you really should observe some of these women living their lives in order to learn how to better your own. (Although, if I were Catholic I think I would have wanted to join their ranks). There are activist nuns who have been arrested frequently for protesting the making of bombs, etc. There are women who run clinics for women - some very pro-life, anti-contraceptives, while others are willing to provide women with all the options available to them and realize that family planning isn't incredibly accurate. Others teach, work as social workers, and practice midwifery in some of the poorest areas in the United States. As an educator the chapter on nuns who teach on Indian reservations just amazed me. They put more effort into their students than seems physically impossible. Some of these women spend so much time focusing on others that they find little time to even say their daily prayers.


"I decided to get a job where I could badger the boss. I decided to become a lobbyist of the highest lever." - 294