SISTER ADRIAN: “I SPENT 30 YEARS GETTING AN EDUCATION, ANOTHER 30 TRYING TO GET OVER IT.”
in 1953, she was allowed to go to Notre Dame to study for a PhD in zoology. She describes her training as a scientist as training in “getting ahead.” She learned how to compete, to be exacting and focused—not the skills she found she needed in order to practice her religious calling. Learning how to listen to the world she vowed to serve would soon take her in a very different direction, one that included Rudolph Steiner, psychodrama, and community-based activism. But this kind of “hearing” did not come naturally. Sister Adrian told me, “I spent 30 years getting an education, and another 30 trying to get over it.” Eventually, she would earn yet another degree, a Masters in Ministry, from Creighton College. She would also, for a time, serve as a chaplain at Creighton College, but was asked to leave by the men who ran the program, who were not comfortable with women in positions of power. The Domincan Sisters are not nuns and are certainly not cloistered. They don’t wear habits, not by a long shot. They live in the world and serve the world. As they say, “In our search for truth, our mission is to hear and proclaim God’s word, promote the dignity of persons and participate in the mission of the church through our call to teach, to heal, to serve, and to transform oppressive structures.” This means that Sister Adrian is connected to Rome only distantly. She lives on her own, follows her own heart, works with other sisters, and is sustained by donations from her community. The only thing she can’t do is sell her property. This freedom allows her the space to explore the world in ways more varied than many who live under a strict rule. The order emphasizes “study, contemplation of the interconnectedness of all God’s creation, living in simple, sustainable community, and working against the violence that alienates and marginalizes.” And so, as Sister Adrian described, this leads to a lot of interpretation among the sisters. For instance, many of the sisters, including herself, have turned to Buddhism and other Eastern religions in their growing frustration with the male-dominated Catholic Church. While Sister Adrian practices with a Buddhist group regularly, she still finds it “too rigid,” and so takes what she likes and leaves the rest, meditating daily on her own.
This flexibility in lifestyle has allowed Sister Adrian to do some fascinating work. She and Claire Danielsson, a psychodramatist, met at a Pax Christ meeting in Tivoli in 1968. Sister Adrian found Danielsson’s work so exciting, she invited her to conduct a workshop at Creighton. The two joined forces in 1980 and founded Boughton Place in Highland, named after Smith A. Boughton, leader of the Tinhorn Rebellion of the 1840s—a fight against manor lords by local tenant farmers. Boughton Place is home to the Hudson Valley Psychodrama Institute, Community Playback Theater, and cohousing and community facilitation programs. Sister Adrian has also been a deeply committed student and fan of the work of Rudolph Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy and Waldorf education, which has led her to continue her efforts toward creating sustainable farming, including her own garden. She grows collards, kale, and rhubarb, and eats them all winter long.
When I asked
SISTER ADRIAN’S TULIPS
WHEAT FROM BETHLEHEM
Sister Adrian how and why she moved from science to philosophy and psychology, she described her need to learn how to listen. “The only thing that brings us to our humanity is the Word that we exchange with each other. We are the only animal that has the Word.” She described learning how to quiet the mind to let God in, allowing the spirit to live through us. As we learn to listen, she told me, “knowledge comes to us like a rose to a bush.” Since spending time with her, I have become one of about 100 recipients of Sister Adrian’s daily e-mails. Each day I receive news about the growing possibility of impeaching George W., interviews with Noam Chomsky, or “mustread” speeches from International Women’s Day. I feel like I am now part of Sister Adrian’s circle of loving activity. She is a devotee of Jesus, but not a follower of exclusionary doctrine. With so much religion shaping our world politics, it is easy to see how one can become disenchanted with the whole business. But knowing that there are people like Sister Adrian in our midst, quietly and humbly sprouting roses, we can remember that peace is the point, after all, and just get back to work. 5/05
Chronogram 25