Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
NOVICE SISTER MARYPOSA FLUTTERBY SCHOLARSHIP
Novice Sister Maryposa Flutterby Scholarship of $650
Sister Maryposa Flutterby was a novice member of the Russian River Sisters. Assigned male at birth, Sister Maryposa lived a life of enormous struggle, coming to grips with their gender incompatibility. Sister Mariposa served our country in the Vietnam conflicts, and later worked as a construction worker and carpenter. In the last three years of thier life, Sister Maryposa was living authentically in their journey of transition. They patiently guided the order towards understanding some of the enormous issues that so many others are struggling with. Sister Maryposa's life was not an easy life, but they never gave up. Sister Maryposa lived openly and courageously in a small community that often did not understand Sister Maryposa's struggle. Sister Maryposa was active in the transgender community and also moderator of transgender online discussion boards
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A recipient of the Novice Sister Maryposa Flutterby Scholarship will be concerned with the well being of others and the struggles associated with change.
Who Are the Nuns of The Above?
To The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, The Nuns of the Above are members of the Sisterhood who have passed on to the afterlife.
They are our ancestors, our elders, our trailblazers. They are Sisters who have walked the journey before us, living and loving, laughing playfully and fighting fiercely. They are physically gone now but they will never be forgotten. In our hearts they are with us still, walking beside us and guiding us as we stumble through our own journeys.
Some Nuns of the Above are fellow Russian River Sisters. Men and women whom we have known and worked beside, loved and lost. We think of them often and we miss them dearly. There are times when we are at a loss in how to proceed with an issue, but the answers come when they are needed. We see their faces, we hear their voices and we feel their presence as they come to our hearts and minds to give us guidance… whether it be a memory, a thought or a gentle nudge in a certain direction.
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There are also Nuns of the Above who are Nuns of Legend, founders of The International Sisterhood. In the early years they built the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence into a viable organization. They worked with passionate hearts to prepare a foundation for us to follow. They laid a groundwork for us, a model for future ministries to be built upon. Through their work the Sisterhood was expanded and spread around the world. By keeping all of their collective memories alive we continually learn from their examples, examples good and bad, hilarious and heartbreaking, but still rich in lessons to be learned. The retelling of their stories become lessons of life for those willing to listen. Lessons of lives once lived, of ravaged bodies soothed, of broken hearts mended and of fractured communities united.