By Sister Barbara Pfarr, SSND
November 4, 2014
As we wait for election returns, the wrapper on the Nun Bus
is being removed. We left the extra food and office supplies with Sister Pat
Rogers at the St. Ann Center for Women, which was our last stop, where they
were encouraging voters and canvassers with a party. Materials are being sent
back to the NETWORK office in Washington, DC. It seems that Melissa Etheridge
has rented the bus for next week.
Eleven states, 58 nuns, over 5,000 media hits (including an
interview of me on WTMJ at the end of this post). I was only on the Bus since
Wisconsin but the tour started in September. At every stop we were met by
cheering crowds of faithful folks who have been doing the hard work of
political engagement. We would speak a bit to encourage and thank them. We
invited people to sign postcards that NETWORK will deliver to our legislators
in DC in January, reminding them that people back home are expecting them to
make a difference for the poor and disenfranchised and we're paying attention
to their progress.
We gave out buttons and invited them to sign the bus.
Sometimes we would do a town hall event to give people a chance to talk about
their concerns and dreams for our country. Sometimes we would make calls to
remind people to vote. This afternoon, we joined 250 high school kids in Racine
who had permission from their parents to be off school to canvass the city,
urging people to vote and offering rides to the polls if they needed it.
Always we talked about how important it is to be politically
engaged if we want to preserve our democracy. Always we urged an end to the
political divisiveness and to work for the common good. Simone always reminded
all of us that as important Tuesday is for the vote, the real hard work begins
on Wednesday, no matter who wins. We the people must find ways to help create
the more perfect union.
We were ahead of schedule at one point today and stopped at
a coffee shop. A woman walked in and asked if I was a Nun on the Bus. She saw
the Bus on the street and wanted to thank us. We talked. Then I went back to
the bus with her so she could sign it. There was a young woman there all alone
with a child in her arms, signing both her and the baby's names and taking a
selfie of themselves. No fanfare: she just wanted to be part of the
action.
What is the hunger that brings hundreds of people out to see
a handful of old nuns and a colorful bus? I don't know but I'm enormously
grateful to have been part of it and my heart is warmed, filled,
inspired.
I'm reading Simone's book, A Nun on the Bus. It's her memoir
of the spirituality that drives the Bus. You can get it from the NETWORK
website.
WTMJ wanted to interview a nun from Milwaukee. My colleagues
on the bus were from California, Chicago, Dubuque, and DC. Here's their
report:
http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/Nuns-on-the-Bus-encourage-people-to-vote-281476451.html?lc=Smart
