Joan Chittister Column

What a fine mess you’ve gotten us in

Joan Chittister — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:06:32 -0400

From Where I Stand by Joan Chittister, OSB	May 6, 2008
	Vol. 6, No. 1

This whole thing is a mess. I’m sure there are more elegant words for it. Like “complex,” for instance. Or, “confusing,” for instance. Or, “destabilizing,” for instance. But in the final analysis, the fact is that the Democratic primary is a mess. What anyone will know with certainty when it’s over, is anybody’s guess. But for right now, at least, the system of choosing a candidate does not feel either clear or decisive.

The question, of course, is why not? And the fact that the answer to that question is no clearer than the primary itself may be the problem.

No honk, no hassle

Joan Chittister — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:17:25 -0400

From Where I Stand by Joan Chittister, OSB	April 16, 2008
	Vol. 5, No. 25

This week I'm coming back from doing a series of lectures in Hawaii. But I learned more about here than I did about there while I was at it.

I learned that it may be more what we do to ourselves than what is done to us that increases or decreases our quality of life.

I saw the answer in India

Joan Chittister — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:43:05 -0400

From Where I Stand by Joan Chittister, OSB	April 3, 2008
	Vol. 5, No. 24

Here's a riddle for you:

What voice of religion is almost impossible to hear -- but is everywhere?

Oh, go on, guess.

Passé for whom? And so what for us?

Joan Chittister — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 05:16:00 -0400

From Where I Stand by Joan Chittister, OSB	March 19, 2008
	Vol. 5, No. 23

Fortunately, I've been reading newspapers. Otherwise, I may have missed the major story of the 21st century: The woman's movement is over, I hear. And from a reputable source: young women in this country who consider their mother's concerns for the role and status of women to be "so passé" as one young woman on a recent CNN International interview put it in regard to the present election season in the USA.

The world's greatest, untapped alternative resource: women

Joan Chittister — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:30:49 -0500

From Where I Stand by Joan Chittister, OSB	March 6, 2008
	Vol. 5, No. 22

[Editor's Note: Sr. Chittister is in Jaipur, India, March 6-10, for the first international conference of the Global Peace Initiative of Women.]

I heard about a conversation last week that I thought explained just about everything we need to know about the current state of human affairs.

The American way -- whatever that is

Joan Chittister — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:16:40 -0500

From Where I Stand by Joan Chittister, OSB	February 13, 2008
	Vol. 5, No. 21

I got a good dose of U.S. politics last week, but it wasn't in the United States. I was at one of the Western world's rare institutions -- the Irish village dinner party. Here people from all over the world who happen to be in the village at the time sit alongside locals who, I am convinced, are among the best read people in the world. After all, computers and the internet have far less hold in an Irish village than in the States. And there aren't too many expensive TV packages either. Just book talk. And lots of it. Over the dinner table, late into the night, about everything on the globe.