Many of you know Chittister's work, but if you don't here's a great quote from a recent interview she gave to the Jackson Free Press. The interviewer's question: "So, as a woman of faith, as a monastic, how do you see your role and the role of other people of faith in the world?"
Sister Joan's answer:
It's a simple one: To see injustice and say so, to find the truth and proclaim it, to allow no stone to be unturned when it is a stone that will be cast at anyone else. It's just that simple. There is nothing institutional, organizational, political about it. It says: "Where I am, you may not harm these people. You may not deride them; you may not reject them; you may not sneer at them, and you certainly cannot blame them for their own existence."
Thank God for Sister Joan, and for faithful, courageous women and men everywhere who have first resolved to see with God's eyes, speak for the oppressed, and stand *with* them as peacemakers. In my personal experiences, the hardest part is resolving to see in the first place. We have so many opportunities to close ourselves off from suffering and need -- both that of others, and our own. We've learned so many ways to deny and/or justify our own complicity. We doubt and despair and lose hope in the power of love to heal and redeem. I say "we." And I mean "me." But I don't think that I'm alone. Which is why I so appreciate the witness of others such as Sister Joan, Father Gary (Smith), Walter Wink, William Stringfellow, Ched Myers, and Dr. Beck, and more. I need the encouragement to stay strong and be faithful and true.
ReplyDeleteI was reading my e-mail subscription to Sojourner's "Verse and Voice" yesterday and thinking about these words of Jesus, in the context of the body of Christ (i.e., community): "I will not leave you orphaned..." (Jn. 14:18, NRSV) Insofar as we believe and live and love as Jesus did, and go to *be with* the lost and downtrodden, maybe we fulfill that promise? "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live." (v.18,19) Be a living sacrament. ~Peace~
This is how I want to see my role as a public school teacher. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteLovely and simple response, and not off-putting to people of other faiths. I also like the book she wrote with Rowan Williams called Uncommon Gratitude.
ReplyDelete"Where I am, you may not harm these people. You may not deride them; you may not reject them; you may not sneer at them, and you certainly cannot blame them for their own existence."
ReplyDeleteThese beautiful words from sister Joan help me understand what it starts to look like as we incarnate the Kingdom.
These religious! They keep getting under the skin of us self righteous Protestants and Restorationists! Especially saints like Sister Joan. Wow! She really has a heart and terrific insight into the human condition. Wonder if it's because she spends so much time with her Savior and those he served? Thanks, Richard.
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