Review: An Unquenchable Thirst

by Danielle Christopher

An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Teresa in Search of Love, Service, and an Authentic Life
By Mary Johnson

At the tender age of 17, Mary Johnson knew what she wanted to do. After seeing the cover of Time magazine bearing the picture of Mother Teresa, she experienced her calling. Almost two years later she was in training at a South Bronx convent.  While she followed along with her sisters, the young woman experienced the deep desires of her age.

Proving her strength and leadership, Mother Teresa trusted her, and Mary rose quickly through the ranks. Mother sent her to study in Rome for theology. She remained there for 15 years, often with Mother Teresa.  Sister Donata (as she went by in the sisterhood) felt a strong connection to Mother.

Mary left the convent in 1997, after spending 20 years as a Missionary of Charity. She has since completed a BA in English, and an MFA in Creative Writing.  She has also gotten married. Mary leads retreats, workshops, and classes of many kinds. Currently she is teaching creative writing and Italian to adults, and is a Creative Director of A Room of Her Own Foundation’s retreats for women writers.

I had an opportunity to conduct a quick interview Mary. Here is our Q&A:

How did your parents/family feel after you left the church?
My parents’ religion is very important to them, and I imagine that they would prefer that I still consider myself a practicing Catholic, but they’ve never given me a hard time about it.  We have a very eclectic extended family now.  The first sister who married chose a husband who was a Southern Baptist, and that was a difficult adjustment for my parents to make, especially for my mother.  The next sister married a Muslim from Turkey, the next a Unitarian, the next a Jew, the next a fellow who had been a whirling dervish for The Grateful Dead—and my brother is gay.  By the time I left the convent, my parents were accustomed to imagining new realities for their children.

What is your goal now that your path has taken you away from the church?
I think my goals haven’t changed all that much, though the way I express them is very different.  Then and now I want to be a loving person, a person who lives her life to the fullest in each moment.  That’s definitely easier to do now than when I was a nun bound by all sorts of rules and regulations.

If you could go back and change anything, would you?
I think it’s a good thing that we can’t go back, and change anything.  Certainly, if I knew all I know now, I could have avoided some of my mistakes, but I only have that perspective now because I’ve made those mistakes, and learned from them.  We each have a unique set of challenges in our lives, and we just have to go through them.  That said, having only very limited access to books and ideas and other people while I was in the convent is something that I truly wish had been different.

If you could tell teens who are struggling today one thing what would it be?
When I encounter a person who is struggling, I listen to him, I hear her story, then I try to help that person listen to his or her own heart.  Most of what we need to know is within us if we listen closely enough.