This One Advent

by Sister Egeria Mark

One year I heard an Advent sermon

about braving the dark abyss of the unknown.

I, three toes into that particular abyss and sinking fast,

took comfort in the notion

that my painful and untidy circumstance

might be within divine providence.

Walking home from church I said to God,

Fine

send what you will

just please can we change everything?

One night two weeks later a keen incomer

looked at me like I was someone

and talked to me like I was of significance.

(I was.) (I still am.)

Three days later I deemed

the life sentence I was serving

null and void.

In the John Irving novel

that is my call story

a stranger urging me to not dye my hair

was God’s first step

in changing

everything.

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A novice Sister at St. Mary’s Convent in Sewanee, TN, Sister Egeria Mark is one of fourteen nuns in the Episcopal Church who are also ordained as priests. A graduate of the Master of Divinity program at Sewanee’s School of Theology, she also holds a Master of Public Administration and a B.A. in Comparative Religion. In addition to serving as celebrant, preacher, confessor, and sacristan at the convent, Sister Egeria Mark enjoys being a guest preacher, auditing classes at the seminary, reading and writing.