MONTHLY MESSAGE from TRACY, KATE & MEG

August/September Message - Everyday Lessons in Spirituality

Most of us cannot rush to the sea for distance or fly away to other places for escape. Most of us simply live where we are, in the midst of the crowds and the complex questions ... ~ Joan Chittister, OSB 

Kate and Meg and I spend lots of time together talking, walking, thinking, feeling and struggling about what it means to live a spiritual life. In its broadest sense, spirituality is a sense of connection to all things, a knowing that all the parts of our lives have meaning and purpose. Although we tend to think of spirituality as offering a clear, serene and peaceful journey through life, finding meaning and purpose in the midst of the ordinary, the difficult, the challenging, the confusing and the messy parts of life is rarely a serene or peaceful process. Many of us are facing economic set-backs, job losses, relationship challenges, addictions, illnesses and other kinds of losses and struggles in our lives. How do we make sense of these messier parts of life and what do they have to do with spirituality?

People who watch my sisters and me engaged in our never-ending dialogue of sorting and reflecting about the issues we face in our daily lives are surprised often by the intense way we challenge each other and ourselves to make sense of our lives. Sometimes these conversations are filled with laughter, sometimes with tears, sometimes with struggle and frustration. But underneath all the activity of our lives and these conversations, lies a core sense that everything we experience is an opportunity to learn, grow and deepen in our understanding of ourselves and our spirituality.

Real and meaningful spirituality is not an escape route from life. It is not an airy-fairy wonderland where all our problems disappear. Though many of us long for a time-out from the gritty realities of our lives—for a long retreat on a secluded island or at the top of a magnificent mountain—ordinary life is an every day lesson in spirituality. It is where we have to sort out who we are and what our choices mean. It is where we have to think about love and what love looks like in practice. It is where we decide who we will be in our marriages, families, and work lives. It is where we seek moments of compassion, joy, blessing and gratitude, even in the midst of our daily struggles.

Joan Chittister is a Benedictine Nun and a feminist leader in the Catholic Church. She is a person who has understood that we work out our spiritual lives through the challenges and dilemmas of our everyday lives. Her quote invites us to dig deeply into our daily lives and to find what is meaningful and important. The quote ends like this: “The here and now is all we have, any of us, out of which to make life worthwhile and God present and holiness a normal, rather than an unnatural, way of life.”

We wish you the wisdom to reflect on all the parts of your life, to find the holy moments, and to learn the spiritual lessons that are unfolding each day as you create the life you imagine.

Blessings from the Sisters,
Tracy, Kate and Meg

Visit our website at www.threesistersinspired.com for programs and products to inspire your life. Learn more about our SEND Program, a seven module spiritual and personal self-development program to help you transform your life. A new cohort is forming now to begin in October 2009.