It comes as quite a surprise when Joan Chittister opens her hotel room door. All photos seen to date suggest a rather fearsome individual. Here instead is a smiling roly-poly figure in a casual two-piece summer suit. All she needs is a large white apron and she could be a merry farmer's wife instead of an opinionated activist.

Joan is a Benedictine sister based in a monastery in Erie, Pa. She is a best-selling author (30 titles and many more still to come), an international lecturer, cochair of The Global Peace Initiative of Women, and founder and executive director of Benetvision, a research and resource center for contemporary spirituality.

Impressive enough. But there is also her column for the National Catholic Reporter, "From Where I Stand . . ." She is just sending off her latest contribution, "The Sacredness of the Singular," via her faithful laptop Dell. Beginning with a quotation, "There is meaning to every journey that is unknown to the traveler," Joan explains how this third annual trip to Japan has called into question everything she tends to take for granted: plenitude, crowds, noise, routine.