Out of Order opens with my traumatic departure from the convent at age 34. Since that fateful day, friends have insisted that I write a book. For 40 years I tried with no success. What message did I want to convey that might benefit others? Finally, "Out of Order" said it best! Order, in its bare-bone definition, boils down to marching to one drummer even though you may personally respond to a distinctly different beat. To be In-Order is to conform perfectly to the dictates of a "Higher Authority". Out-of-Order indicates that something needs fixing. What better way to control people, especially women, than to enslave their minds and hearts through religious mythology, convincing them from childhood that they must bow down to the strictures of a male-dominated society or suffer condemnation? The Ugly Duckling metaphor exemplified my personal plight. Even though on the pond's surface I appeared to fit in with my religious peers, my mental paddling was never quite in sync. An instinctive drive to fight injustice of any kind was the rudder that steered me into "hot water". Authority dictates how human rights are pared down and too often warped by leaders whose primary goal is total control. From family, to church, to school, to government, to the world of work, rules are made to keep us in line. And it helps if we are told that God has ordered this conformity!
About the Author: I'm now 81! It took me forty-some years to write the book, "Out of Order", and in the process to figure out why I seemed to be a misfit from another planet. At the age of seventeen I chose to enter religious life because as a Catholic girl I saw no other desirable option open to me and that adolescent decision was solidified on my first day in the convent when I was told that I had not chosen this path, but Christ had selected me from eternity to follow him and I must never question my vocation. Had I not believed that statement and adhered to it with solid determination, I would not have lasted a week! I've been told by a couple of friends that I was stupid to make that choice and stick with it for so long. Their observation revealed that they had been spared the religious brain warping - not "washing"- that far too many impressionable youngsters endure - mind twisting, deeply ingrained negative precepts - not easily discarded. "Human Bonsai" - deformed by manipulative, well-meaning authority figures. "Well meaning"? That term should send an arctic chill down one's spine! Most, if not all, evil in this world was and is perpetrated by leaders who use such opiates as religion or patriotism to wreak human havoc. It has taken me the intervening decades since June 1963 to grasp the unique world-view I subconsciously incorporated growing up. Aside from receiving the requisite food, shelter and clothing, I was pretty much left to my own devices from infancy. The family was too beset - struggling to survive the Great Depression - to focus on reining me in, binding my feet, tying my tongue or otherwise curtailing an independent, adventurous, questioning, outspoken nature. In truth, I was "out of order" from birth.