“But we are here to depart from this world as finished as we can possibly become.” WorldThis WorldAgingFinished Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Today we live in a world that judges its achievements by speed and busyness. We are so busy making things happen that we have little time left to think about the value of what is happening. We urgently need people who concentrate on the meaning of life rather than simply the speed.” PeopleThinkingWorldNeedsLittlesHappensTodayValuesLeftJudgingAchievementHappeningsBusySpeedThings HappenMeaning Of LifeLittle TimeTime LeftLittle Time Left Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Grief is a sign that we loved something more than ourselves. . . . Grief makes us worthy to suffer with the rest of the world.” WorldSufferingGriefWorthy Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Awareness of the sacred in life is what holds our world together, and the lack of awareness of the sacred is what is tearing it apart.” WorldTogetherLife IsAwarenessSacredOur World Author:Joan D. Chittister
“June is the time for being in the world in new ways, for throwing off the cold and dark spots of life.” WorldWayDarkColdSpotsThrowingNew WaysJune Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Two ideas militate against our consciously contributing to a better world. The idea that we can do everything or the conclusion that we can do nothing to make this globe a better place to live are both temptations of the most insidious form. One leads to arrogance; the other to despair.” WorldTwoIdeasFormCan DoDespairConclusionTemptationArroganceGlobesBetter PlaceContributingPlaces To LiveInsidious Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Benedictine spirituality is a consistent one: live life normally, live life thouhtfully, live life profouncly, live life well. Never neglect and never exaggerate. It is a lesson that a world full of cults and fads and workaholics and short courses in difficult subjects needs dearly to learn.” WorldNeedsWellsSpiritualityCoursesDifficultSubjectsLessonsLive LifeConsistentNeglectCultFadsWorkaholicDifficult Subjects Author:Joan D. Chittister
“What is the spirituality we need for the 21st century? We face a choice: to retire from this fray into some marshmallow paradise where we can massage away the heat of the day, the questions of the time, the injustice of the age, and live like pious moles in the heart of a twisted world. Or, we can gather our strength - our spiritual strength - for the struggle it will take to wake up from this pious sleep.” WorldNeedsHeartAgeFacesSpiritualChoicesSpiritualitySleepStruggleCenturyWake UpInjusticeHeatParadiseRetiring21st CenturyTwistedPiousMassageFrayMolesMarshmallowSpiritual Strength Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Don't worry about wearing the sign; be the sign. You don't have to wear a sandwich board saying, "I am religious and spiritual and know what you should do." You do have to be the best of the mystical presence that your tradition brings. Certainly in Christianity, that means that you begin to go through life putting on the mind of Jesus, trying to see the world as Jesus saw the world.” KnowsWorldShouldTryingMindMeanSpiritualJesusReligiousChristianityWorrySawsTraditionBoardsBeing The BestMysticalSandwiches Author:Joan D. Chittister
“I have to be honest with you, it never occurred to me, as years went by, that my country would look like this as I grew into it, and as it grew into a different world. That's why I keep pressing the notion that we must seek wisdom.” WorldDifferentCountryHonestBeing Honest Author:Joan D. Chittister
“The human race sees with one eye, the male eye; hears with one ear, the male ear; and thinks with one half the human mind, the male mind. And the decisions we are making show we are not bringing to the agendas, and the questions and the problems of the world, all the resources of the world to solve them.” ThinkingWorldMindProblemEyeDecisionHuman Mind Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Sometimes we exclude things in ourselves in order to be like everybody else around us-our ethnicity, our social backgrounds, our ideas. What kind of world is it that will not allow me to be myself, and is it really good for me to be there? What part of me will die a slow death if I stay?” IfsWorldKindIdeasSometimesOrderDiesSocialBackgroundsBeing YourselfEthnicityIf I Stay Author:Joan D. Chittister
“To be contemplative we must remove the clutter from our lives, surround ourselves with beauty, and consciously, relentlessly, persistently, give clutter away until the tiny world for which we ourselves are responsible begins to reflect the raw beauty that is God.” WorldGivingSimpleOur LivesResponsibleTinyRemoveSurroundClutterSimple LivingContemplative Author:Joan D. Chittister
“It is a pathetic moment in the history of the human condition when the outside world tells us who and what we are - and we start to believe it ourselves. Then, bent over from the weight of the negativity, we start to wither on the outside.” WorldBelieveHumansMomentsConditionsWeightBeing YourselfHuman ConditionNegativityBentPatheticOutside World Author:Joan D. Chittister
“In our dreams lies our unfinished work for the world.” WorldDreamLyingOur DreamsUnfinishedUnfinished Work Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Contemplation is a very dangerous activity. It not only brings us face to face with God. It brings us, as well, face to face with the world, face to face with the self. And then, of course, something must be done. Nothing stays the same once we have found the God within…. We carry the world in our hearts: the oppression of all peoples, the suffering of our friends, the burdens of our enemies, the raping of the Earth, the hunger of the starving, the joy of every laughing child.” WorldWellsHeartChildrenSelfDoneEarthFacesJoySufferingCoursesFoundEnemyLaughingDangerousActivityHungerBurdenOppressionContemplationStarvingFace To Face 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
“Feminism without spirituality runs the risk of becoming what it rejects: an elitist ideology, arrogant, superficial and separatist, closed to everything but itself. Without a spiritual base that obligates it beyond itself, calls it out of itself for the sake of others, a pedagogical feminism turned in on itself can become just one more intellectual ghetto that the world doesn’t notice and doesn’t need.” WorldNeedsRunningSpiritualSpiritualityRiskFeminismBecomingIntellectualSakeIdeologyJust OneRejectsArrogantSuperficialGhettoElitist Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Superficial people are those who simply go along without a question in the world-asking nothing, troubled by nothing, examining nothing. Whatever people around them do, they do, too. That's a sad and plastic life-routine and comfortable, maybe, but still sad.” PeopleWorldStillsComfortableAskingConformityRoutinePlasticSuperficialExamining Author:Joan D. Chittister
“Hospitality means we take people into the space that is our lives and our minds and our hearts and our work and our efforts. Hospitality is the way we come out of ourselves. It is the first step towards dismantling the barriers of the world. Hospitality is the way we turn a prejudiced world around, one heart at a time.” PeopleWorldWayMindFirstsHeartMeanTurnsSpaceEffortStepsOur LivesBarriersFirst StepsHospitality 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
“Peace comes from living a measured life. Peace comes from attending to every part of my world in a sacramental way. My relationships are not what I do when I have time left over from my work. . . . Reading is not something I do when life calms down. Prayer is not something I do when I feel like it. They are all channels of hope and growth for me. They must all be given their due.” WorldWayFeelsReadingLeftGivenPeaceGrowthPrayerCalmDuesAttendingCalm DownTime Left Author:Joan D. Chittister
“The moment a woman comes home to herself, the moment she knows that she has become a person of influence, an artist of her life, a sculptor of her universe, a person with rights and responsibilities who is respected and recognized, the resurrection of the world begins.” KnowsWorldPersonsMomentsHomeArtistUniverseWomenResponsibilityRightsInfluenceComing HomeResurrectionSculptorsRights And Responsibilities Author:Joan D. Chittister
