Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope
by Joan D. Chittister
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Book Summary Information
Author: Joan D. ChittisterEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-02
ISBN: 0802812163
Number of pages: 111
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Book Reviews of Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope
Book Review: Requisite resource for comprehensive spiritual development
Summary: 5 Stars
I was skeptical when reading the summary of the book, because Dr. Chittister writes about how the book was derived from her suffering at not being able to attend a writing program. My initial thought was that it was not a significant setback, in comparison to what I was dealing with when I purchased it. It surprised me too that this would be her "difficult" experience on which she focused, as she has confronted many severe challenges: polio as a young woman, and caring for a mother with Alzheimers' for 28 years are two examples. Besides formal education on writing being over rated, she is now a famous author. I also have a natural aversion to books that seem like self-help writing. However, once I started this book, I could not put it down until I finished it. Thank you Dr. Chittister.
The beauty of the book is that she does not dwell on why people on suffering, and how badly they hurt; if the pain is warranted considering the setback's implications for the grander scheme of life. She takes the simple premise that something hurts you and these are the some of the feelings that confront you and your reactions towards life as a result; key among these topics are isolation, exhaustion, and hopelessness. She discusses positive and negative tendencies that these feelings motivate. Isolation is not always a bad thing, but it can be detrimental for healing when it becoems a way of life. Likewise, thinking about the past has benefits because it can offer hope but it also can entrap you, depending on your mentality. It is normal to be tired, but are you sleeping too much from depression, rather than physical need? Friends are blessings in time of despair, but are you losing ability or the will to make decisions for yourself?
She discusses the book as an attempt to outline the "spirituality of struggle," and this is a perfect description for it. She rejects the notion of God as a grand puppeteer and does not tell you that "it all happens for a good reason," but she does offer advice that helps you navigate the emotional turmoil that accompanies disappointment in life, by illustrating the pitfalls and benefits of seemingly negative feelings, which enables to reader to be aware of zones that impede the healing process, and her insight helps the reader learn much about recognizing areas in which s/he can grow stronger in the process, in order to minimize the scarring.
It is not a new theme to say that suffering can make us purer or stronger; many writers form religious and philosophical background have said this before. Nietzsche too (roughly) said "If it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger." But this information is not very helpful to people who are truly hurting, and can't help but ask, "Why do I need to be this strong in life, when my life is not extraordinary." Dr. Chittister's approach is original in that rather than offer vague terms that it is all for the better and all God's will, she says through these emotional struggles, and she devotes a chapter to each, these are the specific lessons that we can look for, and she draw's parallels to how the story of Jacob and his struggle that left him scarred offers us insight for our own challenges and recovery. Every one should keep a copy on this book for difficult times, or for when evaluating things form the past and how they made us who we are to day. And what we can do about it, we are unhappy with our scars. I have given copies away as gifts, to people form all religious backgrounds, and the feed back I have received has been positive.
Summary of Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope
Everyone goes through times of pain and sorrow, depression and darkness, stress and suffering. It is in the necessary struggles of life, however, that we stretch our souls and gain new insights enabling us to go on.Building on the biblical story of Jacob wrestling with God and on the story of her own battle with life-changing disappointment, Sister Joan Chittister deftly explores the landscape of suffering and hope, considering along the way such wide-ranging topics as consumerism, technology, grief, the role of women in the Catholic Church, and the events of September 11, 2001. We struggle, she says, against change, isolation, darkness, fear, powerlessness, vulnerability, exhaustion, and scarring; and while these struggles sometimes seem insurmountable, we can emerge from them with the gifts of conversion, detachment, faith, courage, surrender, limitations, endurance, transformation, and (perhaps most important) hope. Each of these struggles and gifts is discussed in a chapter of its own.
Meant to help readers cope with their own suffering and disappointment, "Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope" is, in Chittister's words, "an anatomy of struggle and an account of the way hope grows in us, despite our moments of darkness, regardless of our regular bouts of depression. It is an invitation to look again at the struggles of life in order that we might remember how to recognize new life in our souls the next time our hearts turn again to clay."
Neither a self-help manual nor a book offering pat answers, but supremely practical and relevant, Chittister's "Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope" will richly reward those readers seeking solace in the empathic, wise, and accessible meditations of a fellow struggler.
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