“For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”
– Ecclesiastes 3:1
I’m Sister Dorene King, OSB, a member of St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth, MN.
As part of my eleventh birthday present, my family and I went to see the movie The Sound of Music. I was captivated by the singing of the Sisters and concluded that I wanted to be a Sister.
It wasn’t time, for I was Lutheran and such a path was not open to me. However, the thought persisted and at the age of thirteen I put on my own theatrical production of The Sound of Music.
For everything there is a season . . . God called me to serve as a secretary, church organist, teacher and pastor. It was in a winter filled with distress over my brother’s struggle with melanoma cancer that I first stepped into a Benedictine monastery. Yes, the singing still drew me, but there was something more – genuine concern, true seeking of God (even in each other) and the opportunity to pray in a variety of ways. I felt God’s call to at last be what I had yearned to be – a Sister.
Our St. Scholastica Monastery community continues to encourage me to become all that God desires me to be. Together we grow in seeing Christ among us, opening ourselves to reflect upon a diversity of perspectives and exploring ways to nurture our God given talents.
My advice to women who are discerning a vocation is to be open to the surprising movements of God in your life. It may be that your route seems to have many curves and roadblocks, but be patient, pray and listen for God’s guidance.
