The image that comes to mind is big giant teddy bear, plush and furry and comforting. It gives me a sense of the over-abundance of God, the uber-generosity and loving care.

And that song “Our God is an Awesome God” is playing in the back of my mind but with “Our God is a Plush God”. Oddly enough as I was writing this post, my little brother has been sitting next to me (I’m vising him and my sis-in-law and my new nephew) and he saw the title of this post and started singing the exact song! Weird, eh??

Have you ever encountered God as “plush”?

Lying Awake

The Saint Petersburg Times has a clever feature on the book called Read and Feed: ‘Lying Awake’ by Mark Salzman paired with Nun’s Sighs. Article writer Tom Valeo gives a mini review of Lying Awake and suggests the perfect cookie to eat while reading the book: Nun’s Sigh cookies!

I definitely want to re-read this book. And I’m thinking a number of you might enjoy the book too. So what about having an online book discussion on Lying Awake? I think I could probably find a cloistered nun or two who would be willing to join us and share from their experience too. If interested, leave a comment below and be sure to enter your correct email so I can contact you. Once I see if folks are interested, I’ll pull together more details.

Sister Patrice Floyd remembers actress Farrah Fawcett as “a little first-grader with pigtails” at Christ the King School in Corpus Christ, Fawcett’s hometown.

A longtime educator, Sister Patrice, a Sister of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, is a former principal of several Catholic schools in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. She said the Fawcett family lived across the street from Christ the King.

Sister Patrice said that when Farrah Fawcett and [Lee] Majors were in town, they often came by the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament Convent to see two of the older sisters who taught Farrah in school. Both nuns have since died. The visits were always in the evening and Fawcett wore a disguise, Sister Patrice said. “The press would go wild when she was in town.”

Many of the sisters knew the star, the nun said. Sister Collette Brehony, a Sister of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament who is now director of religious education at St. Gertrude Parish in Kingsville, had been her teacher at St. Patrick School, according to Sister Patrice.

“She was shocked the first time she saw her on TV,” the nun told the South Texas Catholic, newspaper of the Corpus Christi Diocese.

We celebrate Nunday today with two beautiful photos from Amparo, a young woman from Argentina.

Writes Amparo (who is pictured on the left), “In the middle is Sister Ceci, from the congregation of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, and the picture was taken in a “Life’s Projects” camp they held at the beginning of this year. She chose not to wear the habit, though she usually wears a blue skirt. Ceci is a great friend of mine.”

“In this pictures all of the ladies, minus the one wearing pants are disciples. The one with the veil is Sister Gaby (she chose to wear the habit), the first disciple I met and also a great friend of mine. In the bottom the two are Luciana and Ceci in order. The one between the two men is Sister Luz and the other one is Sister Ana, the Superior of the Argentinian province.”

To see all the photos of Catholic sisters and nuns and links to their stories, visit the A Nun’s Life Facebook photo album. If you’ve got a photo and story (how you know Sister) of a real Catholic sister or nun, check out the details on submitting your photo for consideration.

As I’ve been reading the news about both Farrah and Michael, I’ve learned a couple of interesting connections to each one and nuns.

Farrah Fawcett was in two episodes of my favorite nun sitcom The Flying Nun.

The first was “Marcello’s Idol” (airdate 10/15/69), in which a young boy leads the nuns to conclude he need a male influence in his life when he refers to the sisters as “guys”. Ms. Fawcett played “Lila” in this episode. The second was an appearance as “Miss Preem” in “Armando and the Pool Table” (airdate 1/23/70), in which the nun’s benefactor, Carlos Ramirez, donates a pool table to the convent.
(source: Examiner.com)

Michael Jackson appeared with a group of Catholic sisters at an orphanage in Tokyo, Japan.

After weaving through dozens of screaming adult fans outside the downtown orphanage, Jackson was ushered into a gymnasium where more than 160 children between the ages of 3 and 18 and nuns in gray uniforms waited.
(source: CBS News)

I will remember Farrah most for her Charlie’s Angels role as as private investigator Jill Munroe. And Michael, well, what can I say. The man was an awesome performer and transformed the world of pop music and dance. Two of my faves and absolute classics as both songs and videos: Billie Jean and Black or White.

Rest in Peace, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. You will be missed and remembered.