I used to LOVE The Flying Nun. Yeah, I know… but give me a break! When the show debuted in ‘67, I was 11! Sally Field played Sister Bertrille, who discovered that the combination of her light weight, her wing-shaped cornette (what I called “nun hat”), and strong winds allowed her to fly. How cool was that?! So I was a little bummed to learn in a recent Entertainment Weekly article that Field hated that sitcom! Field disses the show because “there was nothing real” about it. She says, “In the midst of the ‘60’s, when the war was happening and people were taking their clothes off, dropping acid, and changing culture in a big way, she was just out there, flying around.”
Hmm… ok… good point…
I guess Sister Bertrille could be the poster child for many churches and their approach to culture today. We’ve got the war, a meth epidemic, global warming, etc. etc. etc. Culture is indeed changing in a big way, but many churches remove themselves from it. They choose irrelevance and just “fly around”, not being “real”. Admittedly, there are daunting challenges in our current culture, and avoiding them is tempting. But Jesus didn’t avoid the culture; he engaged it. If we take seriously our call to follow him, we must be willing to ditch the funny hat.
--Barb
p.s. Thanks Rodger Sellers for the logo I so artfully inserted into the Nun pic above.
3 comments:
i useto like that show too and i was about 11 also.
dang....not only did I love The Flying Nun...I wanted to BE the Flying Nun (who wouldn't want to look as cute as Sister B...even in that goofy cornette?) When I read this post, I thought, "oh, crap. Another actor bitchin' about her "early years". But what Sally says makes sense both for the 60's and for now. There's a lot going on out there...no time for blinders (or funny hats).
What a random, wonderful show -- the Puerto Rican guy, the nuns.
Like your blog. Say more about your post-Presbyterianism.
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