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Title: Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope by Joan D. Chittister ISBN: 0-8028-1216-3 Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: March, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Gifted Writer Offers Hope
Comment: For a while, the book SCARRED BY STRUGGLE, TRANSFORMED BY HOPE appeared as a recommended book by Amazon.com. I am not certain as to whether it was recommended to me because of my interest in spirituality or because of my interest in writing. Whatever the reason, I am happy this book was recommended.
Sr. Joan Chittister is a Catholic nun and a member the Benedictine community. As a young religious, she had the desire to be a fiction writer. This would have been during the years after Vatican II and the reforms of religious life, so this venture was within the realm of possibility for the young nun. For a reason she still does not know, her order decided that it would be best if she did not enter a creative writing program. While she continued as a religious, and more than likely did some very effective ministerial work, her heart was not in her activities and she had to deal with this very real disappointment. She had to face her own vulnerability and make rather difficult decisions. A biblical image that aided her in understanding is the Genesis story of Jacob wrestling with an angel. This rather curious story helped her understand the struggle she faced. This work is the fruit of her insight and lessons learned from the experience.
Sr. Joan sees struggle as involving eight characteristics: change, isolation, darkness, fear, powerlessness, vulnerability, exhaustion, and scarring. Each of the characteristics has a gift that can be gained: conversion, independence, faith, courage, surrender, limitations, endurance, and transformation. In each section she either uses her own experience of an experience involving someone she knows. She touches on personal experiences we all face and collective experiences such as the aftermath of September 11.
While Sr. Joan's faith is evident throughout the book, this is not a syrupy religious tract or a "God writes straight with crooked lines" type of book. It deals with struggle as it is, often difficult and ugly, and looks at it from a realistic point of view. While it may have value to readers who are facing struggles at this time (who isn't?), it will probably be most helpful to people who have faced difficulties and are still trying to find God in the midst of it all.
While I believe that what motivated me most to purchase this book may have been Sr. Joan's dashed hopes of writing the great American novel, this book has done very little to cure my sometimes incurable case of writer's block. This is neither a disappointment or criticism because it has helped me with spiritual block. Writers who have suggestions for ending writer's block are a dime a dozen. Writers who can help remove spiritual bocks are rarer and are always gifts from God.
Rating: 5
Summary: Why did the book have to end?
Comment: There are lines in books so penetrating that we rush to underline them, trying to hold on to the feeling they evoke in us. In Chittister's "Scarred by Struggle," nearly every single line is worthy of highlighting. I have read many, many good spiritual books, but none compare to this. For those who unexpectedly find themselves wrapped in darkness, suffocating from dread, and feeling as if they will drown in all of it, Chittister's words will save you. One knows that she has been tossed to this place called "nowhere," against her own will, and very slowly climbed out. What she says and the rare eloquence with which she speaks will be a miracle to those who need to find a way to hold on. The beauty of the book is that Chittister doesn't give easy answers to difficult questions -- rather she defines the agony of struggle so keenly that you feel less alone and less crazy while caught in it, and she leads you to small, simple ways to survive until you can be resurrected.
Rating: 5
Summary: Finding the blessing in struggle
Comment: I found this book to bring great comfort and insight to my own life. Couldn't put it down.
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Title: Seeing With Our Souls: Monastic Wisdom for Every Day by Joan D. Chittister ISBN: 1580511236 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield (Non NBN) Pub. Date: April, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints by Elizabeth A. Johnson ISBN: 0826414737 Publisher: Continuum Pub Group Pub. Date: July, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: In Search of Belief by Joan Chittister ISBN: 0764803379 Publisher: Liguori Publications Pub. Date: February, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Story of Ruth: Twelve Moments in Every Woman's Life by Joan D. Chittister, John August Swanson ISBN: 0802847420 Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: July, 2000 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today by Joan Chittister ISBN: 0060613998 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 10 May, 1991 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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