Rating: 
Summary: Interesting and informative
Review: In "Wisdom Distilled from the Daily", Joan Chittister modernizes the Rule of Saint Benedict and applies it to modern living. Each chapter covers a different aspect of the Rule, including such topics as prayer, work, mindfulness, hospitality, peace, and listening.Her stories from the desert sages are wonderful and extremely funny, and several of her insights are insightful and very helpful. I found the chapter on obedience in particular to be one of the most pithy, eloquent, and well-written summaries on such a loaded topic that I have ever encountered. One can tell that she is a clinical psychologist from that chapter! The only criticisms I have are that the content is definitely dated: many of her specific images no longer apply, especially in world politics, her language is occasionally didactic and flat. "Prayer is not magic. Prayer is not..." and so on. Also, a minor linguistic point: she tends to start each chapter with an image, relate the image to the topic, discuss the topic, and then return to the image. This is fine for occasional use, but grates on repetition. Also, those not familiar with Christianity, especially with monastic communities might want to do some background reading first, as some of the images are quite specific. Overall, a very interesting discussion on how to apply the Rule of St. Benedict to today's world.
Rating: 
Summary: Not just for Catholics
Review: In this remarkable book, Sister Joan Chittister filters the wisdom of St. Benedict through her own monastic experience to produce an inspiring guide to centering, focusing, and leading a life of meaning and integrity in today's world. Her message transcends religious and ideological specificity; her writing manages to be direct and luminous at the same time. I, as a non-Christian, was both deeply moved and inspired.
Rating:
Summary: Benedict Rules!
Review: Joan Chittister has written a most beguiling and yet practical reflection on the ancient Rule of Benedict. This charming book, though nearly ten years old, is as fresh as the day it was written. "Wisdom Distilled from the Daily" is a timely and welcome guide for all who seek moments of grace and personal spiritual growth in and from their daily lives. Each of the fifteen short chapters is prefaced by a direct citation from the 1500 year old Rule of St. Benedict. Each begins with a description of some physical characteristic of the Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Erie, Pennsylvania, home of her religious community, to whom Chittister dedicates the book. The author uses each of these concrete realities from in daily life in her monastery as a root metaphor which she breaks open in flowing, nearly-musical prose to reveal the timeless wisdom of Benedict on such topics as Listening, Prayer, Work, Humility, and (my personal favorite) "Holy Leisure". But this is not a book about monasticism. St. Benedict was a layman. While his Rule has been adopted and used by monastic brothers and sisters of various religious orders since the sixth century, it was meant to be a spiritual guide for all -- particularly lay persons. More importantly, its purpose is to help us build our spirituality from the bricks and mortar of the lived experiences of our daily lives. The author reminds us that we can find sanctity in the world around us: "If we are not spiritual where we are and as we are, we are not spiritual at all". This book is a gem! It is an easy read. If you think highly enough of someone to want them to read it also, buy them a copy. Don't lend them yours. This one is a "keeper" you will want to refer to frequently. In "Wisdom Distilled from the Daily", Joan Chittister has remade the timeless sixth century Rule of St. Bendict into a much-needed Rule of Living for the twenty-first century.
Rating:
Summary: Benedict Rules!
Review: Joan Chittister has written a most beguiling and yet practical reflection on the ancient Rule of Benedict. This charming book, though nearly ten years old, is as fresh as the day it was written. "Wisdom Distilled from the Daily" is a timely and welcome guide for all who seek moments of grace and personal spiritual growth in and from their daily lives. Each of the fifteen short chapters is prefaced by a direct citation from the 1500 year old Rule of St. Benedict. Each begins with a description of some physical characteristic of the Mount St. Benedict Monastery in Erie, Pennsylvania, home of her religious community, to whom Chittister dedicates the book. The author uses each of these concrete realities from in daily life in her monastery as a root metaphor which she breaks open in flowing, nearly-musical prose to reveal the timeless wisdom of Benedict on such topics as Listening, Prayer, Work, Humility, and (my personal favorite) "Holy Leisure". But this is not a book about monasticism. St. Benedict was a layman. While his Rule has been adopted and used by monastic brothers and sisters of various religious orders since the sixth century, it was meant to be a spiritual guide for all -- particularly lay persons. More importantly, its purpose is to help us build our spirituality from the bricks and mortar of the lived experiences of our daily lives. The author reminds us that we can find sanctity in the world around us: "If we are not spiritual where we are and as we are, we are not spiritual at all". This book is a gem! It is an easy read. If you think highly enough of someone to want them to read it also, buy them a copy. Don't lend them yours. This one is a "keeper" you will want to refer to frequently. In "Wisdom Distilled from the Daily", Joan Chittister has remade the timeless sixth century Rule of St. Bendict into a much-needed Rule of Living for the twenty-first century.
Rating:
Summary: Wisdom for Life in the Family
Review: Joan Chittister welcomes us into the Benedictine way of life, sharing from her decades of daily life within the cloister community, living under the "Rule of St. Benedict". I found "Wisdom from the Daily" a great help in understanding Benedictine spirituality as I wrote a book on the Rule of St. Benedict for parents, newly published as, THE FAMILY CLOISTER: BENEDICTINE WISDOM FOR THE HOME, by David Robinson (New York, NY: Crossroad, April 2000, 192pp.) May God's peace and wisdom fill your home.
Rating:
Summary: Wisdom for Life in the Family
Review: Joan Chittister welcomes us into the Benedictine way of life, sharing from her decades of daily life within the cloister community, living under the "Rule of St. Benedict". I found "Wisdom from the Daily" a great help in understanding Benedictine spirituality as I wrote a book on the Rule of St. Benedict for parents, newly published as, THE FAMILY CLOISTER: BENEDICTINE WISDOM FOR THE HOME, by David Robinson (New York, NY: Crossroad, April 2000, 192pp.) May God's peace and wisdom fill your home.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for women's study groups!
Review: My chapter of the Daughters of the King did this book as a 6-month study. Highly recommended! Easy to read! Have your highlighter ready to mark all the words of wisdom! Some great quotes that I refer back to every now and then: "The cross says that we can rise if we can only endure." "We pray so that when the incense disappears, we can still see the world as holy." "In community, we work out our connectedness to God, to one another, and to ourselves.... In the security of each other, we can afford to stumble."
Rating: 
Summary: A Small Dose of the Daily
Review: Other authors in the Benedictine tradition use the same catagorical approach to the Rule of St. Benedict as found here (see Tinsley, "PAX: the Benedictine Way; McQuiston, "Always We Begin Again"): listening, prayer, community, humility, work, obedience, and stability. Chittister incorporates selected examples from the earliest monastic desert traditions as well as modern-day examples from her own life in the cloister to illustrate these Benedictine basics. Unlike many authors on these subjects, Chittister adds an intensely political sensibility, which some readers may find helpful in their search for relevance in this ancient tradition. Others will find it jarring or even the antithesis of "pure" Benedictine spirituality. "We can stop nuclear war ourselves by stopping the manufacture of nuclear weapons", she write in the chapter on prayer and lectio. "Humans created them and humans can destroy them." (p 35) Chittister does her best work and writing in her examples from her life and the deliciously eccentric stories from the desert abbas and ammas. Unfortunately, the bulk of the book has a vague preachiness that is easier to skim than to absorb, and her perchance for negative repetition as a literary device become annoying quickly. "The function of prayer is not magic. The function of prayer is not the bribery of the Infinite. The function of prayer is not to change the mind of God..." (p 35) Other books in this category are more useful and less irritating in style. This one goes down quickly and, for the most part, won't hurt a thing.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for all Christians in my opinion...
Review: St. Benedict wrote about life driven by purpose/meaning within a community long before modern writers.. Concepts not just for Monastery residents.. Many of St. Benedict's teachings can be applied to everyday life -- which is what Sister Joan Chittister OSB helps us to understand in this excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Amount of Wisdom and Enlightenment
Review: The Catholic Church has a tradition of conferring the title of "doctor," upon people posthumorously, who have contributed much to others' learning of faith. The more I read from Joan Chittister, the greater the impression I have that I am reviewing the work of a living doctor.
In regards to one of the reviews that labeled some of the information in the book as slightly dated, I am at a loss for where such a shortcoming occurred. The books deals with the timeles issue of spirituality, and I felt that all of the refferences she made were pertinent to any time, including the present.
In regards for a comment made by a reviewer that referred to Chittister as "Sr. Issues," which implied that she bemoans the status of women, true she mentions situations in which women's lives have obstacles to spirituality, some of which are institutionally impsoed, but no less often than tshe mentions men, and the poor and the rich. And she would be religiously irresponsible if she neglected to cite examples of where people could implement gospel teachings to address some of the social ills or "issues" that our confronts our society today.
In short, this is a book for everyone, to inspire and uplift all readers and to provide guidance to everyone for how to develop a spiritual life. It is full of lucid observations such as her distinction between praying people and spiritual people "There is nothing easier than to lead people down the path of prayer forms without ever asking them what goes on inside them as a result. At the end, consequently it is possible to get a praying person; it is not alwyas possibel to get a spiritual person. Praying people get their prayers in and wait for God somehow miraculously to deliver them from their private deomns. Spiritual people expect the demons. What they look for is a way to find God even there."
The book is written in reference to a Christian document, but the guidelines are not exclusive for Christians. Chittister's view, based on her interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict, is that spirituality can not be developed in a vacuum, only through prayer, or only through attending church, or only through working with people, but that needs to be honed through balancing all aspects of life.
Balance is the key. She elaborates on different facets of life that one should listen to and conduct attentively in order to realize enlightenment. She does not offer exact perscriptions for what dosage of each component a person needs, because the requirements depend on a person's individual situation and needs.
Among these components are daily spiritual reading ("lectio") with an attitude of seeking "not so much and attempt to know God in history or Jesus in Israel as much as it is an attempt to know God in my life and Jesus in me;" contemplation, as "not a vacation from life.Contemplation is the pursuit of meaning...Those who find the will of God every where and feel the presence of God any where are the real contemplatives;" spiritual prayer; applying the gospel to all decisions in life such as what you buy and how your work; developing a sense of community with your neighbors, your colleagues and your family(a key center piece of which is a family meal).
Benedictine spirituality focuses much on interactions of people with each other and their environemt; listening to God's voice and learning to recognize it in every one you meet, and every event that occurs. It is an ideal framework for people today who do not live as hermits because it is based on the idea of a members of a community receiving reinforcement from the group for their weeknesses and sharing their strengths with the group. A community can be found any where.
I found the book beautiful and inspiring and would recommend it to any one who is looking for a resource that will help them with spiritual growth and the art of discerning God's voice. The tone is easy and converstional, and provides a flexible blue print for the pursuit of spirituality in any type of life style.
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