Outside the box

Earlier this month I wrote about a sister who had died, aged 94. Among the many tributes and memories of her on social media, I was especially intrigued by one saying that She was a living example of what religious life offered and still offers to women who seek to live outside the box. Intrigued because the phrase - living outside the box - implies, to me, non-conformity and a high level of individuality and being unconventional: those we regard as "living outside the box" are usually seen to be free thinkers, for example, especially in matters of religion and belief. And whilst we sisters are most definitely individuals, encouraged to grow in inner freedom and creativity, and to allow the Spirit to lead us to new expressions and responses - to think, at least, outside the box - the very fact that we make vows and live in community, sharing a common call, charism and faith, does, at the same time, require a certain level of conformity. Yes, religious life as a way of life can be counter-cultural, and can lead us into some very unusual and unexpected places; but do religious live outside any sort of box - and if so, how?

Still feeling intrigued, I put the question to some young adults with whom I had dinner the other evening. Their responses were immediate and eye-opening. Radical discipleship, said one: and yes, it's what we're all called to, but we see religious doing it very visibly and very definitely - and that's often counter-cultural. And another added that in a world and a culture which always seeks to tell people who and what to be, how to behave, what to buy and own - to make them conform to certain norms - those in religious life go against all this. And I realised that this is indeed so, though not our main aim or intention. Captivated by Love we follow a call requiring both surrender and engagement, shedding and self-gift; and in the process, without setting out to defy those norms such as acquisition or autonomy, we do in fact dare to be different.

And as I reflect on today's feast of the Annunciation I realise that it is, in fact, a feast of living outside the box par excellence! God, the omnipotent Creator and Sustainer of all life, chooses to become incarnate in an ordinary, obscure family; chooses, too, to wait for an unmarried teenage girl to give her assent to something both unbelievably miraculous and culturally shocking. It's a reminder, too, that in bringing Christ into our world we too are often called to go beyond what is considered normal or possible; to dare to be different; to make conformity with the Heart of Jesus our first and greatest  conformity - sure that this will determine everything.

So today I'm praying for these young adults - and indeed for anyone who is so captivated by Love that they too are being called to live outside the box...