Between the Dark and the Daylight: Encountering and Embracing the Contradictions of Life

“Here, at last, is a book for those ready to make peace with the unsolvable riddles of present-day life. Why are we so lonely in a world of so little privacy? Why do we work so hard for control we can never achieve? Whether the problem that keeps you up at night is how to find safety in a world that is always changing or how to deal with guilt in a life that is far from perfect, Sister Joan has good news for you: these are the questions that make you human, and can make you more joyously human if you choose.”

—Barbara Brown Taylor, author of
Learning to Walk in the Dark

“The great spiritual writers knew that truth can be found most often in paradoxes and contradictions. To find light you must go through darkness. To seek knowledge you must admit that you know little. To live you must die to self. Joan Chittister’s new book explores the meaning of some of the most profound spiritual paradoxes and, in the process, helps the reader find her or his way to new life. Sister Joan has long been one of my favorite spiritual writers, and with this new book she has given us more of her trademark common sense, insight, and wisdom.”

—
James Martin, SJ, author of
Jesus: A Pilgrimage

“As always, Joan has put her finger and her pen to the right and needed words. She well describes those liminal spaces wherein human beings best grow and become their best selves. She could never describe them so well if she had not walked through them herself.”

—Richard Rohr, OFM, founder of Center for Action and Contemplation and author of
Falling Upward

“This little book is an alarm clock for the spiritual journey. It wakes the reader up to the fact that our life journey is unique for each of us, yet we are twined together in the presence of God in every moment. Joan brings her years of faithful monasticism to open up the painful contradictions of our time. Wake up! The time is NOW!”

—Simone Campbell, SSS, executive director of NETWORK, author of
A Nun on the Bus

“Joan Chittister has written what promises to be a spiritual classic—a guide for those of us who have ever spent sleepless nights wrestling with our own frustrations, fear of the unknown, and pain of loss and separation. Through the wisdom of a woman who has experienced all of these, we learn how doubt can lead to greater clarity, hopelessness to new life, and solitude to deeper connection. In short, how the paradoxes that confound life can transform it. This is the most poetic writing yet from a woman who is a modern prophet.”

—Judith Valente, author of
Atchison Blue
and correspondent for
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly
on PBS

“This book could be life-changing for many. Joan Chittister highlights the paradoxes and contradictions of life, things that we experience as obstacles, as life-denying, such as loss, confusion, doubt, failure, emptiness, and exhaustion, and shows convincingly—the strength of the book lies here—how each one offers an opportunity for fuller growth. Turning the pages we maybe perceive how much of our life we fail to live, how many opportunities we waste. It is my hope that this book will reach a vast number of people experiencing the pain and splendor of being human. They will be enlightened and comforted.”

—Ruth Burrows, OCD, author of
Essence of Prayer

“In a nutshell, life is best defined as a conundrum. Every high flees the hot pursuit of a low; certainties emerge from the shadows of doubt; endings are invitations to new beginnings. In this beautiful book, Joan Chittister focuses her discerning eye upon these conundrums. Turning the pages is like turning a kaleidoscope of insight because it helps us to see, admire, and appreciate the infinite colors and shapes of life. At times,
Between the Dark and the Daylight
sparkles with ageless wisdom; at other times it glows like the quiet embers of a best friend’s advice. This is a book to which you will return over and over, and, each time you do, you will discover new treasures of optimism.”

—Maura Poston Zagrans, author of
Camerado, I Give You My Hand

Cover

Other Books by This Author

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication