“Judaism calls for us to honor the rhythm of human life, the demands of the human community around us, the call of the divine order as the filter and scale for the decisions that drive our own small lives. We do not rule the universe, Judaism reminds us. God does. We are not its standard or its norms. We are only its keepers, its agents, its stewards. To do right by the universe at large is the measure of a happiness framed with the entire cosmos in mind but lived in microcosms across time.” MindHumansDoeOrderUniverseCommunityDecisionDivineHonorDemandStandardsEnvironmentalScalesRhythmAgentsHuman LifeCosmosNormJudaismStewardshipFiltersKeepersFramedStewardsMicrocosmDivine OrderSmall Life Author:Joan D. Chittister
“An authentic spirituality does not cater to culture; it calls culture to accountability.” DoeCultureSpiritualityAccountability Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.” LifeInspirationalDoeGrowthDarknessGratitudeDeserveGratefulSunlight Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Acceptance is the universal currency of real friendship. . . .It does not warp or shape or wrench a person to be anything other than what they are.” PersonsDoeRealAcceptanceShapesUniversalCurrencyWarpReal FriendshipWrenches Author:Joan D. Chittister
“It is precisely women’s experience of God that this world lacks. A world that does not nurture its weakest, does not know God the birthing mother. A world that does not preserve the planet, does not know God the creator. A world that does not honor the spirit of compassion, does not know God the spirit. God the lawgiver, God the judge, God the omnipotent being have consumed Western spirituality and, in the end, shriveled its heart.” KnowsWorldHeartDoeEndsSpiritMotherSpiritualityCompassionThis WorldPlanetsJudgingHonorWesternCreatorPreservesNurtureConsumedKnowing GodOmnipotentBirthing Author:Joan D. Chittister
“We talk religion in a world that worships the bread but does not distribute it, that practices ritual rather than righteousness, that confesses but does not repent.” WorldDoeReligionPracticeWorshipBreadRighteousnessRitualRepent Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Beware of your definition of success: If it has more to do with what other people think of you than it does with what you know of your own abilities, you may be confusing applause with achievement.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsMayDoeSuccessAbilityAchievementDefinitionsConfusingApplauseThink Of YouDefinition Of Success Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Happiness does not come quickly. It is not conferred by any single event, however exciting or comforting or satisfying the event may be. It cannot be purchased, whatever the allure of the next, the newest, the brightest, the best. Happiness, like Carl Sandburg's fog, "comes on little cat feet," often silently, often without our knowing it, too often without our noticing.” MayLittlesDoeHappinessNextKnowingFeetEventsCatExcitingSatisfyingFogComfortingNoticingAllureCat Feet Author:Joan D. Chittister
