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Sister Wendy’s Odyssey Continues
Sister Wendy Beckett, the reclusive, charming, surprisingly down-to-earth Carmelite nun, has died at the age of 88. She became an unlikely television star in the 1990s as a result of her natural screen presence, her love of art, her ability to convey the humanity in everything she saw to others, and yes, her marvelous teeth. (I’m sure she must have had pet rabbits, I’m never wrong about that.). Obituaries abound, but I think this is a particularly nice one.
“God never sends suffering. Never. It is never ‘God’s will’ that we should suffer. God would like us not to suffer. But since the world brings suffering, and since God refuses to use His almighty power and treat us as foolish children, He aligns Himself with us, goes into Auschwitz with us, is devastated by 9/11 with us, and draws us with Him through it all into fulfillment. This is a high price to pay for our human freedom, but it is worth it. To be mere automatons for whom God arranges the world to cause us no suffering would mean we never have a self. We could not make choices.” — Sister Wendy Beckett
Thanks for taking me along on parts of your journey, Sister Wendy. Rest in Peace.
Published in History
May flights of angels sing her to her rest.
What an absolutely amazing explanation of suffering. Theologically sound and simple to understand.
You beat me to it, Sir Percy!
I was thinking of doing an in memorial post on her passing. You beat me to it, She. That was a nice article but I think there’s an error in there. It claims Sister Wendy was a Carmelite, and that was what I had always thought. But the Los Angeles Times obituary claims she lived at a Carmelite monastery but was in fact technically a hermit. Yes, there are actually hermits in this day and age. She lived apart and by herself.
She really had a charm to her presentations. I kind of blushed sometimes when a nude was in front of her but really my concern for her sensitivity was unnecessary. The obituary has this little anecdote.
I didn’t mean to titillate with that, and I apologize if it offends anyone, but I thought that captured her personality to a tee!
Eternal rest grant unto Sister Wendy, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. We thank you for the blessing of her time here on earth.
Thanks @manny, a nice comment, and I appreciate the extra insight.
I think I’ll use it this Sunday. Too good not to share.
Very well said. I agree with her.
I had never heard of her before; thanks for sharing.
Sr. Wendy was the kind of believer I aspire to be: committed without being pushy; aware of the True, the Beautiful, and the Good; pure without prudishness; world-wise without being weary, or becoming wary. May she now drink fully at the fountains of Elijah! Thank you, @She!
I remember sometimes catching her on TV. She was always charming.
I ran across this offer in my email today. Sharing it here in case someone might be interested in it.
Sister Wendy: The Complete Collection (DVD)
Appreciate this, @weeping! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Nanda!