The Nun's Story

Not long ago I walked into the library at my kids’ school and perused the shelves as I waited for a meeting to begin. Now I’ve been known to be intrigued by books others would easily skim over. Sometimes such a book will almost jump off the shelf and into my hands with little explanation why. 

Such was the case with The Nun’s Story by Kathryn Hulme. It’s an old book, published in 1956. I opened the book to read the front flap and found a summary and endorsement by none other than Daphne du Maurier, one of my favorite authors. And the subject matter of the book? A woman’s (nun’s) struggle to surrender to obedience. Since obedience seems to be the lesson I’ve been stuck on this year, I left a note on the librarian’s desk and took the book home with me. 

Fascinating book on many levels, but definitely the book for me right now. I could identify with the main character, Sister Luke, as she struggled to die to herself, to conform her iron will to the mandates of her convent and of the Lord. She not only learns obedience and humility, but, in the end, she learns to listen to the voice of the Lord over it all. It may not be a book to speak to everyone, but for me, at this moment in my life, the story touched deep places in me with every twist and turn of this woman’s life. 

I’ll be finding a copy of this book for my own shelves now. And then I discovered, quite by accident, that there is a movie adapted from the book starring Audrey Hepburn that garnered quite a few Oscar nominations and awards. So I guess I’ll be acquiring that as well. 

Has the Lord used an obscure book (or at least obscure to your current culture, maybe well known in its time) to further open your spiritual eyes? For me, this is but one of many.