Nuns on the Train

The randomness continues. Today, Collagemama, a wonderful, whimsical blogger in Texas who often comments here, sent me this picture of nuns on the train. (She was responding to yesterday's post, Nuns on the Bus.) The painting, called The Chair Car, is by Williamson Gerald [Jerry] Bywaters, an artist from Paris, Texas.

Paris, Texas is a real town and a film (that was not filmed in Paris, Texas.) This summer the Nuns on the Bus went to Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Laredo, and El Paso, Texas, but not Paris, Texas. And many other cities and towns across the U.S.A.

Talking about social justice.

Sister Simone Campbell, one of the nuns on the bus (not on the train), led worship today at New Covenant Community, and it was a packed church! She was inspiring, reverent, down to earth, and fun. She explained the loaves and fishes--the miracle was sharing (the women had packed food, of course). She mentioned stomach acid, in regard to St. Paul's epistle on the metaphor of the body of Christ. She advocated talking to people in the line at the grocery store. And she read more of her poems to us.

Plus, remember wallpaper? She talked about wallpaper! Remember "in a lonely place"? Well, she spoke of being "in this lonely place" of life on earth and the need for community, for radical acceptance and love. It all made sense, and I had that lovely weird feeling of everything being pertinent, everything coming together in a delightfully unexpected way.

Which, I admit, is how I often feel. It was just nice to get that Nuns on the Bus bump.