Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Joan Chittister

Quote by Joan Chittister

“Prayer that is regular confounds both self-importance and the wiles of the world. It is so easy for good people to confuse their own work with the work of creation. It is so easy to come to believe that what we do is so much more important than what we are. It is so easy to simply get too busy to grow.”

Quote by Joan Chittister

Create image

Author

Joan Chittister

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Joan Chittister. more

You May Also Like

“Into the midst of all this indistinguishable cacophony of life, the bell tower of every Benedictine monastery rings "listen." Listen with the heart of Christ. Listen with the lover's ear. Listen for the voice of God. Listen in your own heart for the sound of truth, the kind that comes when a piece of quality crystal is struck by a metal rod.”

SpiritualityListeningSpiritual DisciplinesSpiritual DirectionRule Of LifeSpiritual FormationListening Prayer
Author:Joan Chittister
Create image

“Listening is, indeed, a fundamental value of Benedictine spirituality. More than that, Benedictine listening is life lived in stereo. The simple fact is that everybody lives listening to something. But few live a life attuned on every level. Benedictine spirituality doesn't allow for selective perception; it insists on breadth, on a full range of hearing, on total alert. We have to learn to hear on every level at once if we are really to become whole. The problem is that most of us are deaf in at least one ear.”

SpiritualityListeningSpiritual DisciplinesSpiritual DirectionRule Of LifeListening Prayer
Author:Joan Chittister
Create image

“The story is told of Mother Theresa that when an interviewer asked her. "What do you say when you pray?" she answered, "I listen." The reporters paused a moment, then asked, "Then what does God say?" and she replied, "He listens." It is hard to imagine a more succinct way to get at the intimacy of contemplative prayer.”

PrayerListeningSpiritual DisciplinesContemplative PrayerMother TheresaMarilyn Chandler Mcentyre
Book:Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies
Create image

“It was a happy day when I discovered that in the English of Chaucer's day - which was also the time of the Black Death - the word "silly" meant "blessed." I am not sure when we strayed away from its original meaning, when blessedness took on a churchy aura and silliness became the realm of Monty Python and fourth-grade eschatological humor. As hard-working adults we too often lose the gift for letting go, for delight in simply being. We persuade ourselves that every moment must be lived productively; like the busy little bee, we feel a holy obligation to improve each shining hour. We would do well to take very small children or big silly dogs as our teachers. I have learned much about holy uselessness form Perry, the dog...”

CelebrationRestSpiritual DisciplinesSpiritual DirectionRule Of Life
Book:At Home in the World: A Rule of Life for the Rest of Us
Create image