“Listen deeply and appreciate all God’s creation.”
-Sister Jolynn Brehm
Sister Jolynn Brehm was born on a dairy farm in central Wisconsin, the oldest of six children. From early on, she became aware of the importance of nature. She loved gardening, farm animals and the beautiful trees. But this appreciation of nature went deeper.
Sister Jolynn’s favorite memory comes from a time when she was very young. Since she was the oldest child, her parents had to take her along with them to do the milking. When they finished in the barn in the evening, all three would sit outside the barn facing west. There she and her parents would admire the crops, and especially the sunset. Sister Jolynn recalls, “There was a deep sense of gratitude. Somehow I absorbed it. That is where I felt a bigger dynamic.” There she initially engaged in contemplation.
Long before Sister Jolynn decided to become a Franciscan, she experienced elements of nature as brothers and sisters, just like St. Francis of Assisi did. She recounts, “In the front yard of our farm, we had a row of trees, and I would pretend that they were my neighbors. I would go to the first one and say ‘hello’, and then to the second tree and say ‘hello’, and so on. When I got a little older, I would walk down to a grove of trees, fashion a little ‘house’ out of logs and sticks, and interact with more ‘neighbors’ there. I had a highly developed imagination from the start.”
Sister Jolynn recognized her religious vocation in the eighth grade. She attended a Catholic grade school staffed by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. She had an aunt in the same congregation. In addition, Sister Jolynn also felt especially close to her eighth-grade teacher, Sister Alice McMullin. That year, a trip to the FSPA motherhouse, St. Rose Convent in La Crosse, Wisconsin, with a few friends, sealed the deal. She entered the convent two years later as a sophomore in high school. Her paternal grandmother did not approve of her decision. According to Sister Jolynn, “She thought I would be wasting my life. But my dad, who was a convert from Methodism, supported me. That meant a lot.”
Sister Jolynn, circa 1958.
Sister Jolynn wanted to be a housekeeper, but instead she was assigned to study home economics, which she then taught at three different Catholic high schools in Wisconsin. Years later she was assigned to teach first and second grades. Although quite a change, she found herself loving that experience. “I found the kids’ imaginations fascinating. I connected with that.” In this setting, Sister Jolynn was able to use her lifelong love of nature to encourage the children to love it as well.
In 1986, Sister Jolynn was given the privilege of taking part in the first Spiritual Direction Training Program offered at the newly founded Franciscan Spirituality Center in La Crosse. According to Sister Jolynn, “All my religious life I had been a teacher – speaking, directing, giving outwardly through my thoughts and words. Now I was being given the opportunity to learn how to listen deeply and be truly present to others. Our culture is not a listening culture, so these skills are badly needed.”
The art of spiritual listening then opened up as her new ministry. She became a spiritual director, serving in a number of settings, including FSPA-sponsored Marywood Spirituality Center in northern Wisconsin. There, besides engaging in spiritual direction with many individuals and eventually serving as director, she also presented programs on spirituality and, not surprisingly, on nature. For example, in one program, she taught the concept of moving beyond painful experiences through the example of composting. The attendees could recognize how their hurtful experiences were used by God to produce new life in them.
Now in her wisdom years, Sister Jolynn still serves as a spiritual director for thirteen people monthly, some whom she’s known for thirty years. In addition, as she relates, “What has really germinated in me lately is my appreciation of solitude and quiet, and just having time to reflect. I’m much more attentive now to Spirit messages. I haven’t always listened for these Spirit messages before, or even knew that I could trust them.”
When asked for a bit of wisdom to share with her audience, Sister Jolynn replied, “More and more people just need someone to listen to them and appreciate their stories. In order to be that person, cultivate your own quiet and solitude.” She ended with this, “I have a very fulfilling life.”
About Wells of Wisdom
Communities of Catholic Sisters realize what a wealth of wisdom there is among us; it is too rich to be ignored. So in “Wells of Wisdom," author Sister Karen Lueck features a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration in her golden years who is willing to share some of her wisdom with a world desperately in need of it.
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