Let's start with this: Mary Lou Kownacki is NOT your average nun, or at least, not what I, in my apparent small mindedness, envisioned a nun to be like. In a series of stories, recollections, and simple thoughts arranged in alphabetical groupings, Mary Lou leads the readers on a spiritual journey. Mary Lou is a Benedictine Sister living in Erie, Pennsylvania, attempting to "stretch [her] monk's robe until it embraces the suffering world." She offers insights to a variety of topics from angels to Thomas Merton to zen wisdom and everything in between.
Reading this was actually a lot more fun than I expected. Sister Mary Lou is a bit of radical, at least in my mind. She participates in peace demonstrations and gets thrown in jail. She advocates for better roles for women in the Catholic Church. She surprised me at every turn. Her stories tugged at your heartstrings and made you stop and think. I felt like she made you stop and reconsider your preconceived notions about monastic life and about religion/Christianity in general. An enlightening read.
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