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The New-To-Me Nun Car
One of the first things I noticed when I started hanging out with nuns (aside from their beautiful spirit!) is that there is such a thing as a Nun Car. It seemed that most of the cars in our fleet (kind of like the Spanish Armada of Nun Transport) were either Geo Prisms or Neons. As time went on I saw some Ford Focuses and Chevy Cavaliers in the mix and now we have some Toyota Prius hybrid cars which reflects our growing awareness of the environment and our care for all of God’s creation. Oh sure, we have a few oddballs like a minivan or two, an Alero and I think even a Scion. We briefly had a Cougar when one of our new members first came to the community but then one day the Cougar was gone with a modest yet somewhat sporty two-door Cavalier in it’s place.
I admit, I used to mock the Nun Car genre. I would always be amused when going to the mall or grocery store in Monroe and seeing a Nun Car. They were easily identifiable not only by the make but by the little crocheted thingie on the end of the antennae. It warmed my heart to know one of my nuns was nearby.
Well the time has come when one of those Neons will be my personal Nun Car. Up till now I’ve received oddballs which pleased me. But now, it’s a Neon. I feel like such a nun now. Understand, I’m in my thirties and have always loved cars and driving. I used to dream of having my own car — when I was younger it was a red Firebird Trans Am. Now it’s a blue Toyota FJ Cruiser.
I’m not sure what I expected when it was time for me to get a “new” car from Sister Carol, our Car Nun. (A Car Nun is the sister who is in charge of the fleet — all of our cars belong to the IHM Community, not to an individual.) But I guess I harbored a desire that she’d say, “You’re in luck! One of our sisters just returned from mission in Florida and she’s turning in her 1985 Firebird Trans Am. Hope you’re okay with red!”
That’s not what Sister Carol said to me, rather it was the news that a silver Neon was available. I of course thought of all my poking-fun at Neons and Nun Cars but then it dawned on me, I am a nun! Why not a Neon? More than that, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude for my nun Sister Carol and for my IHM community that they were sensitive to my needs and also conscious of the needs of our whole community. The fact that I have a car for my use is such a gift. I treasure that it is not one of the “odd balls” of the fleet but one of the classic Nun Cars. Somewhere within, I’ve had to let go, and yes, grieve, the fact that I will never own the car of my dreams but I’m getting to be okay with that. It’s funny, I’ve been in the IHM community now for over 10 years and there are still bits and pieces of life as a nun I’m learning and perhaps more accurately deepening my understanding of.
I write this because I think it’s important to know that even when you commit to doing something — be it becoming a nun, or marrying the love of your life, or starting your dream job — there is always a growing in understanding what it is that you’ve actually done! It’s not like a vocation is a single stop and you instantly know everything and have reached the pinnacle of your experience. It grows, deepens, challenges, surprises!
For now I must go, I have an 8:00 a.m. appointment with my Car Nun to pick up the keys to my new-to-me Nun Car!
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Just an FYI, it works that way in non nun life too, ha ha. My dream was to own a Mercedes coupe….well, when the kids were little and in car seats it was strictly mini van time and now that they are bigger and I always seem to have extra kids around and we needed something to haul our trailer for campng it’s SVU time. SIGH. Someday I’ll drive that cute little 2 door Mercedes convertible!
Ah, I remember the good ol’ days when the nuns drove those big ol’ boats-sized station wagons (usually Blessed Mother blue) with the extra seat in the back for the three skinniest nuns to cram into (riding backwards).
So, what will you name this silver Neon? And have you had it blessed yet? What religious item will you have in it? A statue of Blessed Mother? St. Michael? Or will you go for the whole ball of wax and have one of those four-way medals? We called them the “Calling all saints!” medals in novitiate.
And how about those magnetic ribbons supporting this that or the other? Bumper stickers? Perhaps a license plate frame promoting IHM ministries?
(The above is all in fun. I find it amusing that some of our sisters dress so plainly, yet decorate the cars with so many gee-gaws and do-dads that they look like mobile shrines and bulletin boards! Do other sisters do the same?)
I can remember the IHMs at St. Felicitas getting a station wagon. I’m not sure if Msgr bought it for them or the Holy Name Society/St Vincent DePaul men bought it.
If I remember right, it was jet black and went like lightning. So, our Sisters had a hotrod. *grin*
Hey Sister Julie – have fun with the car. we are all so different. though I love to drive and i love my truck, i also look forward to being car-less as much as possible in religious life, being accountable to my community and the larger community in use of carpools, using public transportation, biking, walking…and making whatever changes in personal habits/preferences require that (truly living my personal life within the geographic square defined by the reach of those resources) and only using a fleet vehicle for those obligations that truly require I drive. Will that be fun? Sometimes. Will it be a complete and utter drag at other times? Absolutely: just ask people who cannot afford a personal vehicle or who choose to go without. Will it be better for me? Yes, because it will simplify my life and make clear the “difference between want and need” in every sense: materially, recreationally, in terms of expenditure of time and resources and energy. I parked my vehicle for three years, and my dog and I walked everywhere. At first, it seemed my life had shrunk and I felt deprived. Within a year, there was never a time that I could not meet all my personal needs on foot, bike or public transportation. I knew my neighborhood inside and out and it knew me (and my dog). It was a lovely, healthy and FULL time in my daily life. I loved it when I rode with friends or family and I did have a friend whose tank I filled once every two weeks in exchange for the car of his car for an overnight visit to friends who lived 30 miles away. I did miss my freedom sometimes but I sometimes miss being 25, too. And wow! not to have to worry about insurance,maintenance,gas,licensing – once I wasn’t spending THAT money and all the OTHER money that having a car encouraged me to spend – I was blown away by how much $$$ I no longer needed! And that opened up a whole new kind of freedom to me and my life.
I see a potential “rub” in religious life: communal living and communal decisions about ministry may make driving to work an absolute necessity, whereas I was able to choose a job based on my ability to get there without a car and I was able to choose a job that paid thousands and thousands of dollars less than those I had during my car-dependent life (what an ugly cycle and one I did not even recognize until I got out of it: I was actually choosing my specific job, to some degree, based on the match between salary and the costs of living with a car, costs that far outstrip the direct costs of the car. It made me a little sick when I realized it…)
But I love the idea of being accountable for restricting use of a vehicle to absolute necessity, as in, no other mode of travel is possible.
Jean
Sister,
I absolutely LOVE this quote from your post:
“It’s not like a vocation is a single stop and you instantly know everything and have reached the pinnacle of your experience. It grows, deepens, challenges, surprises!”
Excellent advice we all need to remind ourselves of every day!
I live in a small town and while I’m not able to walk to my job, I do try and walk when I need to run errands, and I try to frequent businesses which are within walking distance. It’s nice to see the same peopel at the YMCA, at mass and at the local grocery store – these are my neighbors and it’s nice to know them. The one thing I did go without a few years ago was television. While this is not a car, it seems to have become such a “necessity” that for a year, I did without and while initially it was hard, I LOVED it in the long term and read so much more and just enjoyed the stillness of the house. And knowing I wasn’t buying (literally) into the junk that pours into out homes and minds through TV made me feel healthier. This post has made me start looking at what else in my life I find “necessary” that a huge portion of the world does not have, and I think it’s time to see what else I can carve out which distracts me from the business of really living and listening to God’s voice.
Darrin – I loved that passage, too. Sister Julie’s words reminded me of that aspect of my own car adventure: I had no idea how much would unfold from a simple decision to “curb my car” when I found a brochure in my then-town saying “Join Us for Community Curb Your Car Week April 25–May 1″. One week turned into three years but my understanding of what that week was about **for me** continues to unfold. I see it now as one of the experiences that prepped me to hear God’s call and to understand the potential beauty of the life to which I believe I am called.
Sister J, you are amazing in sharing your life in a way that opens up life to the rest of us, Jean
I drive a nunmobile…and it IS a silver Neon…but I’m grateful for the wheels…while hoofing it is a great alternative…some of us are unable to do that either for distance, danger, or (our) age…so LONG LIVE the NUNMOBILES that enable us to continue ministries to God’s people! Amen!
P.S. Have you seen the new Camaro?? Sweet!
Reminds me of a story I heard from a sister. Two nuns took their nun car, a red mini-cooper, shopping for groceries in New York City. Not finding a parking space, the driver nun circled the block while the shopper sister shopped. When the shopper sister exited the store and did not see the driver sister, she inquired of a man standing nearby, “Have you seen a nun in a red mini?” The man replied, “Not since I quit drinking, sister.”
I also loved this. “It’s not like a vocation is a single stop and you instantly know everything and have reached the pinnacle of your experience. It grows, deepens, challenges, surprises!”
It was really good for me to see that, because just recently I’ve made the decision to apply to join next August and I’ve really seen how little I know about religious life, so it’s good to know that it’s okay if I don’t know it all by next year.
JMJ+
~Betsy
Totus tuus Maria!