|
|
What’s important in life?
Once upon a time, there was an elder who was respected for his piety and virtue. Whenever anyone asked him how he had become so holy, he always answered, “I know what is in the Qur’an.” So when the old man died, they raced one another to his hut to find out for themselves what was in his Qur’an. “Well, what is it?” they shouted. The disciple holding the book looked up from it amazed and said with wonder in his voice, “What is in this Qur’an are notes on every page, two pressed flowers and a letter from a friend.”
There are some things in life, whatever its burdens, however it is spent, which if we cultivate them will never die, will be the source of our joy forever, will sustain us through everything.
“Two pressed flowers,” beauty off the bloom, memories of past good days, remain in memory and heart long after the event has ended.
“Two pressed flowers” become the treasury of those moments in time when spontaneous laughter made a moment rich and unforgettable. They echo on in life long after the moment ends and ring a reminder to us of the incessant, bedrock beauty of life, however long or many its sad days. They remind us that there is in life, down deep, and unexpectedly, an essential basic and beautiful goodness that redeems all the moments we ourselves overlay with greed or hatred or anger or self-centeredness. The holy life cultivates those moments. They are the heartbeat of the universe. They make us glad to be alive. They hold us up in hope when everything around us seeks to drown us in despair.
“Notes in the margins of our holy books” lift us above the mundane and make us look again at what we are, at what we are called to be. They require us to be reflective about what we do and why we do it. They remind us that there is a greater purpose to life than simply making a living. Reflection–this conscious comparison of the goals and hope of my life with all the possible purposes of life–gives us a new sense of the nobility of life. It stretches us to be everything we can be, in even the worst of circumstances. It refuses to remain mired in the search for power and security that isolates us from the rest of humankind.
Finally, friendship– “love letters from our friends,” touch us so that we might eventually learn to touch others. We come to this world from the moment of birth unable to function without the help of others. We grow, then, into that purpose ourselves: to care for those around us so that, caring for one another, we may all live secure in the knowledge that we are safe and wanted, necessary and loved.
Our letters remind us that it is what and whom we have loved which, in the end, shapes the quality of our lives.
When all the stages of life have passed us by, these things alone remain: the spiritual treasure that stretches our souls to see what our eyes cannot, the remembrance of how beautiful life really is under all its ugliness, and the love of those around us who make the journey gentle as we go.
If the question is, What is really important in life?—the answer is only life itself, living it well, immersing it in beauty, love, and reflection.
—from Joan Chittister: Essential Writings, selected by Mary Lou Kownacki and Mary Hembrow Snyder (Orbis)
|
|
|
What's New: October 9, 2023
|
Keynote at Spirit UnboundedThis Friday, Joan Chittister will be the keynote speaker at Spirit Unbounded an event that will parallel the Synod on Synodality and uplift the voices of women and indigenous people. Her talk, “Living the Discipleship of Equals,” will be given in Rome, at 5:00 pm Rome time (GMT+2, Central European Summer Time Zone), but will be available through Zoom to anyone who purchased a ticket to the event. You can still register for this conference here.
|
New Audio BlogIn the latest installment of Joan Chittister’s audio blog, Sister Joan says, “Anything is possible, and Jesus, as far as I am concerned, is the best possibility of them all.” To listen to her reflect further on hope and faith, click here.
|
CalendarThe 2024 Joan Chittister calendar is now available through the store at joanchittister.org. Featuring twelve of Sister Joan’s most hope-filled, joyful messages, rendered in beautiful calligraphy from Anne Kertz Kernion, this calendar includes major holidays in many religious traditions, as well as the new and full moons.
It is available in standard wall size—11’’ x 17”—as well as in a “mini” size which can fit easily in a pocketbook. Click here for more information and to place your order.
Unfortunately, we are only able to ship domestically within the U.S.
|
|
Foreword in New BookJoan Chittister authored the foreword for a new book by Barbara Haslbeck, Ute Limgruber, Regina Nagel, and Philippa Rath, OSB. The book is written in German and its title is translated in English as, Loss of self and alienation from God: spiritual abuse of women in the Catholic Church.
|
Divine Feminine Virtual EventSpirit of Sophia, a women’s spirituality center, is hosting a virtual event with Joan Chittister on December 2. In this talk, which will be held from 1-2:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Sister Joan will look to the foundations of the Abrahamic world and explores questions such as: Where does the idea of the Divine Feminine come from? and Why is it important for us to consider today? Click here to purchase a ticket.
|
SOUL POINTS October 9: John Lennon, the iconic musician, song writer, and activist, was born on this date in 1940. Lennon was a member of The Beatles, and went on to record several solo albums, with songs like “Give Peace a Chance,” “Working Class Hero,” “Imagine,” and “Happy Christmas (War is Over),” that promoted peace and justice. His work is still celebrated today, and still speaks to our need to dream of a more peaceful future. Click here to listen to “Imagine,” his plea for a world without divisions.
 October 11: “One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. When you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else,” wrote Eleanor Roosevelt, the American first lady and diplomat who was born on this date in 1884. Roosevelt ’s childhood was marked by the deaths of both her parents and a younger brother, and she struggled with depression throughout her life. Roosevelt was involved in politics beginning in the 1920s, and campaigned for minimum wage, an end to child labor, and other goals of trade unions, even when supporting these causes meant working against her uncle, Theodore Roosevelt. She refused to give up her public life when her husband was elected President of the United States, although it was expected that First Ladies would primarily serve as hostesses. She used her position to host a weekly radio show and write a nationally syndicated column, and to travel widely, supporting laborers and people affected by the Great Depression. She actively opposed her husband ’s detainment of Japanese-American citizens after Pearl Harbor, and spoke out for women ’s rights and civil rights until her death in 1962.
 October 12: Elizabeth Fry, who spent her life working for prison reform in 17th century England, died on this date in 1845. Fry came from a wealthy family, and at the age of 18, she had a conversion experience while listening to the preaching of abolitionist Quakers. She became dedicated to caring for the poor and sick, and particularly invested in helping those who were imprisoned. In 1813, she began making daily visits to Newgate Prison, where women and their children were incarcerated, and was horrified by the unsanitary and demeaning conditions in which they had to live. She published her observations, which shocked the nation, and used this momentum to create reforms in the prison. Among other innovations, she established a school for the incarcerated children, and organized a system of supervision in the prison where female inmates were primarily overseen by female guards. She also advocated for an end to capital punishment—which, at the time, was a penalty for over 200 crimes—and wrote an influential treatise asserting that prison should be a place of reform, rather than a place of torture.
|
|
POEM OF THE WEEK
To My Grandmother Who Died in Manchuria Fourteen Years Ago
Grandma, is it dangerous to write to you?
Everybody told me to forget the dream
I had last night when you came home
and cooked us a Mid-Fall meal.
You even smiled at me when I swept
your room with a huge broom.
Before supper you gave me
a bowl of stewed meat and whispered,
“Save this for the kids when they need it.”
I was shocked.
How could you speak English so fluently?
Before you died, neither you nor I
had ever heard an English word.
How did you know
I understood what you said?
I am advised to be careful,
for an old crone can be willful.
Someone guessed you came to fetch me,
as you must feel lonely over there.
Someone asked whether you touched me
or called me by my nickname.
If you did, my number would be fixed.
I’m not scared, nor am I prepared.
If there is another world from where
no one returns, how did you learn
English so well? How come
you drank coffee and ginger ale?
No, no, you couldn’t pick up
foreign stuff over there.
You must have been here,
here, in me.
—Ha Jin
|
Compiled by Jacqueline Sanchez-Small, Anne McCarthy, and Benetvision Staff
|
|
|
|
