Prophets are so dangerous because they cry in season and out of season, politely and impolitely, loud and long. Joan D. Chittister More Quotes by Joan D. Chittister More Quotes From Joan D. Chittister Find the thing that stirs your heart and make room for it Joan D. Chittister heart rooms There is always new life trying to emerge in each of us. Too often we ignore the signs of resurrection and cling to part of life that have died for us. Joan D. Chittister growth new-life trying 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. Joan D. Chittister simple giving world A life of value is not a series of great things well done; it is a series of small things consciously done. Joan D. Chittister great-things wells done Prophets are those who take life as it is and expand it. They refuse to shrink a vision of tomorrow to the boundaries of yesterday. Joan D. Chittister vision tomorrow yesterday The vision of a culture lies in what becomes its major institutions, in what it remembers as its most impacting events, in who it sees as its heroes. Joan D. Chittister vision hero lying If the people speak and the king doesn't listen, there is something wrong with the king. If the kings acts precipitously and the people say nothing, something is wrong with the people. Joan D. Chittister speak kings people To insist on living until we die may be one of life's greatest virtues. Joan D. Chittister dies virtue may 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. Joan D. Chittister different country world The God who made us dust knows we're dust. We don't have to feel like perpetual failures because we aren't more than we are, and we don't have to be in contest and contention with everybody around us, because once I know myself and realize I have limitations, then two things happen: I realize my need for you, and I do not expect more from you than I expect from myself. So mercy comes with it, joy comes with it, authenticity comes with it, and freedom comes with it. Joan D. Chittister authenticity realizing joy Hospitality is the key to new ideas, new friends, new possibilities. What we take into our lives changes us. Without new people and new ideas, we are imprisoned inside ourselves. Joan D. Chittister life-changing keys ideas 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. Joan D. Chittister divine-order community decision Internet has contributed to certainly a new kind of communication among us - not all of it good; a lot of it, dangerous. When we talk about human community, we certainly now have a tool in our hands that enables us to reach out as we never have before. It broadens our sense certainly of what community is and even of our own place in it. Joan D. Chittister communication community kind The Christmas season is a gift in itself. It releases us from the priorities of ordinary time and gives us the right to party more and pray more and love more. Joan D. Chittister party christmas giving Longing is a compass that guides us through life. We may never get what we really want, that's true, but every step along the way will be determined by it. Joan D. Chittister want may life If anything diminishes a person, it is the cancer of constant complaining. Joan D. Chittister constant cancer complaining The liturgical year is the year that sets out to attune the life of the Christian to the life of Jesus, the Christ. It proposes, year after year, to immerse us over and over again into the sense and substance of the Christian life until, eventually we become what we say we are - followers of Jesus all the way to the heart of God Joan D. Chittister christian heart jesus A hard heart makes for hard judgments; a compassionate heart understands the humanity of the one we presume to judge. Joan D. Chittister judging humanity heart Humor and laughter are not necessarily the same thing. Humor permits us to see into life from a fresh and gracious perspective. We learn to take ourselves more lightly in the presence of good humor. Humor gives us the strength to bear what cannot be changed, and the sight to see the human under the pompous. Joan D. Chittister laughter humor sight Everything we do seeds the future. No action is an empty one. Joan D. Chittister seeds empty action
