Joan Chittister writes from the perspective of decades of deep involvement in religious life. She writes about religious life in the here and now, not about the value of its past nor about the possible shape of its future, asking a simple question: What, if anything, constitutes the spirituality of contemporary religious life? What is the work of religious life now? What are the virtues demanded of religious now that take character and test commitment, that make the world closer to the reign of God and bring a person closer to the Truth of life? -- Provided by publisher.