In the foreword to this book by the prolific writer and charismatic Benedictine nun Joan Chittister, Paula D'Arcy calls this brief book "an owner's manual for understanding the power of the heart and the force of love."
Sufi teacher Kabir Helminski has wisely observed: "Hearts need education and refinement just as the body needs exercise and moderation." He is right. But people are nervous about looking within or getting overly emotional. And in our bottom-line society, heart knowledge tends to be treated as impractical and worthless. Yet the heart is often mentioned in the spiritual traditions as being the locus of the spiritual life.
So it is for Chittister, who presents 50 dimensions of the human heart including the attentive heart, a heart for beauty, a hopeful heart, a cosmic heart, an open heart, a prayerful heart, and a wise heart. Each brief meditation is presented in Chittister's energetic and enthusiastic style.
More than ever in these times of grave anxiety and fear, we need tutoring in "heart skills," and Chittister comes through with the right book at the right time.
