Can a nun be a lawyer?

I have been so extremely underused these past few weeks. You would think that with all this free time, I would be halfway done with writing my book, have all my laundry and that of my neighbors done, and have my sock drawer organized, but alas, 'tis not the case.

Other than waiting by the phone for my boss to call and tell me my paperwork went through, I have pretty much been sleeping. I have the cordless phone next to my bed just in case my boss calls, though, so I'm doing my part. I am continually amazed at the bureaucracy of our government. See, that's why I'm waiting, b/c I work for the government. Technically, I couldn't stay on b/c technically I had the same job number as the person I was covering for, so technically I had to be off until the person I was covering for next actually was on leave. Well, that was technically two weeks ago (when he had his surgery). Now no one is doing his job. And so while I technically can't be working, they are still technically paying me. I'm not joking. They have yet to take me off payroll, or to change my permissions so I can still log on to the government system and have access to that information. That's our government. All those technicalities.

So with all this time on my hands, I've been thinking about my future. I have been accepted to a Masters program in Northern Ireland. I had deferred enrolment to this year, so now the course begins in October. I feel I would really enjoy the subject matter, and that it would definitely broaden my horizons, but my ultimate goal is to go to law school.

As I was thinking about the course my life may take, I remembered when I was studying in Dublin three years ago, and met a nun from Ethiopia. She was taking the course and staying at a local order and had been travelling around for some time. There was also a priest in the class, who I did not know was a priest until a little ways into the course. When I realized people who lived life in their faith could really live a life, I started to think that maybe that was the life for me. I love doing service work, travelling, learning, sharing. Last night when I was thinking again about this, I thought, "I love my life, except for the men part". The men in my life are always causing me undue drama and heartache, and if I could live a life without that, maybe then my heart would be fulfilled. Then I had to really think, years from now, will I be happy laying in my bed alone? The cynical part of me thought that's a very real possibility with or without living in the order. Even if I were to find someone and get married, who knows how long it will last. Who knows if it will be happy.

I remember watching a newsmagazine story about a movie star from the 50s who gave it all up to become a nun. She said that the first seven years were hard. SEVEN YEARS! Goodness me, it seems most people could get used to anything after seven years. She had a fiancee at the time she went into the order, and he never married and goes to visit her every week. I thought that was the saddest thing ever. It made me think that maybe that wasn't her calling...

So I want to be a lawyer and possibly a nun. That led me to ask "can a nun be a lawyer?" I've been told the answer is yes. Whether or not becoming a nun is the right path for me is a question not so easily answered.