Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope, by Joan 0. Chittister. William B. Eardsman, 2005.
Chittister’s aim in writing this book was not to give yet another theological thesis on the dimension of hope;
rather she concentrates on the relationship between struggle and hope. “This is where most of us live every day of our lives and this is where we do or do not live the spiritual life. I wanted to deal with the real, the immediate, the present, and the obvious.” Where could she find sources? Everyone has stories of pain and guilt, depression and despair, hopelessness and sorrow. Some of them we survived well. Some of them we didn’t. The question is
why?”
Chittister gets one’s attention in her first chapter in which she relates one of her greatest disappointments in life. She loved to write, wrote well already in high school, wanted to be a writer, but instead was sent to teach young students. She wrote every chance she got, not big stories, just little articles, not for publication, but simply because
writing was her passion. Finally her superior recognized her abilities and promised a two year program in one of the best creative writing universities, Iowa State. Her school year dragged on, always with the light at the end of the tunnel clearly in view. But just before she had made final arrangements for application, the superior changed her mind, and decided Joan was not ready for Master’s work but for humility’s sake she should serve as the third cook at a summer camp. Was Joan scarred by
this struggle or transformed by hope? The incident was life-altering to Joan and helped to form her into the writer she became on her own.
(Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman, O.P. for this review.)
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