Book Review: Between the Dark and the Daylight by Joan Chittister
The chain of choices we make for ourselves is not the whole of our life's story.
We make decisions every step of the way, yes, and we change many of them as time goes by. But in many instances as many things just happen as much as they are chosen.
And at that point disruption sets in at the crossroad of all our plans.
Once choice cancels another.
Life lies in adapting to choices that are not mine.
- "Between the Dark and the Daylight," by Joan Chittister
This slim book of chapters on topics ranging from The Fragility of Achievement, The Role of Failure in Success, The Struggle Between Guilt and Growth, The Loneliness of Love, etc., is written in the practical commonsense voice Sister Joan is known for in her many previous books on spirituality and the well-lived life. There are many nuggets of wisdom and guidance to be found throughout the pages of this, her most recent book, including working definitions of emotional states such as hopelessness - "a spiritual doldrum" - and loneliness, where sister Sister Joan assures the reader, "Loneliness is a sign that there are whole parts of us that cry out for development. After all we are meant to be more than our social lives. It is also a call to make other people's needs our own."
The writing in Sister Joan's pithy chapters is clear and straightforward, but from the title and book jacket description, I was expecting more depth in addressing modern spiritual angst. Hoping for a focused exploration of that existential worry that besets many of us between bedtime and dawn, as the title suggests. The hours we lie awake, confused and worried, as we puzzle out our misery and search for answers to the great questions of our lives. Sister Joan speaks to the book's title theme to some degree, writing, "Frustration is something that does not exist - except within the self... The paradox of delusion is that, if anything, the very act of putting trivia between us and the world is exactly a sign that we need to question what it is that is undermining our ability to function well in normal circumstances... It's what we like don't like about ourselves and do not want other people to sense about the small parts of us...to attend to what I have long ignored or denied or forgotten. To resolve what I regret."
This section, among others, skims the surface of what is most certainly a greater potential discussion of human spirituality in today's often violent, fast-moving, material world. What of this silent isolation? These inner dialogues during the troubled night that shadow our daily lives?
"Between the Dark and the Daylight, Embracing the Contradictions of Life," is a chapbook of gracious homilies. This book is both on the right track, and simply not deep enough in my opinion for a reader with serious soul-searching issues begging to be explored. Sister Joan quotes Augustine: "This is our perfection: to find out our imperfections."
And then what?
*I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.
We make decisions every step of the way, yes, and we change many of them as time goes by. But in many instances as many things just happen as much as they are chosen.
And at that point disruption sets in at the crossroad of all our plans.
Once choice cancels another.
Life lies in adapting to choices that are not mine.
- "Between the Dark and the Daylight," by Joan Chittister
This slim book of chapters on topics ranging from The Fragility of Achievement, The Role of Failure in Success, The Struggle Between Guilt and Growth, The Loneliness of Love, etc., is written in the practical commonsense voice Sister Joan is known for in her many previous books on spirituality and the well-lived life. There are many nuggets of wisdom and guidance to be found throughout the pages of this, her most recent book, including working definitions of emotional states such as hopelessness - "a spiritual doldrum" - and loneliness, where sister Sister Joan assures the reader, "Loneliness is a sign that there are whole parts of us that cry out for development. After all we are meant to be more than our social lives. It is also a call to make other people's needs our own."
The writing in Sister Joan's pithy chapters is clear and straightforward, but from the title and book jacket description, I was expecting more depth in addressing modern spiritual angst. Hoping for a focused exploration of that existential worry that besets many of us between bedtime and dawn, as the title suggests. The hours we lie awake, confused and worried, as we puzzle out our misery and search for answers to the great questions of our lives. Sister Joan speaks to the book's title theme to some degree, writing, "Frustration is something that does not exist - except within the self... The paradox of delusion is that, if anything, the very act of putting trivia between us and the world is exactly a sign that we need to question what it is that is undermining our ability to function well in normal circumstances... It's what we like don't like about ourselves and do not want other people to sense about the small parts of us...to attend to what I have long ignored or denied or forgotten. To resolve what I regret."
This section, among others, skims the surface of what is most certainly a greater potential discussion of human spirituality in today's often violent, fast-moving, material world. What of this silent isolation? These inner dialogues during the troubled night that shadow our daily lives?
"Between the Dark and the Daylight, Embracing the Contradictions of Life," is a chapbook of gracious homilies. This book is both on the right track, and simply not deep enough in my opinion for a reader with serious soul-searching issues begging to be explored. Sister Joan quotes Augustine: "This is our perfection: to find out our imperfections."
And then what?
*I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.
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