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An Integrated Life

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Doctor (and Sister) Joan Chittister shares her weekly Vision and Viewpoint newsletter today with her comments below on the importance of “living an integrated life.” You can learn more about her and the Benedictine religious community in Erie, Pennsylvania at this website: joanchittister.org/~joanchit/

“Do not lie, even to yourself

Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Gandhi could have been a Benedictine. Humility is about living an integrated life, a life in which each part is in harmony with every other dimension.
 
The person who lives a lie, for instance, no matter how effective otherwise, is in tension every moment of the day.
 
The truth is that we are meant to be transparent.

Be what you say you are. Do not lie, even to yourself. Don’t live two lives

At the end, three things measure both our integrity and the harmony of our own lives: self-control, respect, and freedom from self-deception.

a process of slow and self-emptying transformation
 
enjoy the rest of the adventure called life, learning, becoming, growing as we go.

                  —from Radical Spirit (Random House), by Joan Chittister 

joanchittister.org/books-page/radical-spirit-12-ways-live-free-and-authentic-life

Jan 17 – A Poet More People Should Know – Mary Lou Kownacki

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Sister Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB
November 29, 1941 ─ January 6, 2023

“Sister Mary Lou published several books of poetry as well as chapbooks of prayers and poems. Her writing appeared in National Catholic Reporter, Sojourners, Commonweal, and others. She compiled and edited numerous books during her time at Pax Christi and later for other publishers including Orbis Books … Her book Between Two Souls: Conversations with Ryokan (Eerdmans) won a first place Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) in 2005.” https://eriebenedictines.org/story/memoriam-sister-mary-lou-kownacki-osb

“Of the hundreds of poems that Sister Mary Lou wrote, this one, published in her 2004 book, Between Two Souls, seems especially relevant now.

A Friend’s Funeral

She never gave in to weakness
The eulogist said.
And I prayed my mourners
Would hear a friend who preached:
She gave in to every weakness,
All commandments broken with abandon,
All vows stretched to the altar rail and
Pushed through the pews.
In this way
She immersed herself in the human condition.
Weakness was her strongest virtue.
       —Mary Lou Kownacki“

from this week’s Vision and Viewpoint e-newsletter from Joan Chittister.

Here is my humble senryu in response: I Wish We’d Met Sooner

our paths crossed too late

to share a bright high noon – yet

sunsets still bring smiles

Thank you, Mary Lou Kownacki, Joan Chittister, and this week’s e-newsletter “compilers” Jacqueline Sanchez-Small, Anne McCarthy, and Benetvision Staff. See https://joanchittister.org/~joanchit/content/newsletters