Birthing God: Women's Experience of the Divine
304Birthing God: Women's Experience of the Divine
304Paperback
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Overview
"Our spiritual stories are full of missteps and unabashed celebration. They are narratives of suffering and of hope; lessons in shedding fear and learning to love ourselves. Ours are embodied stories that begin with emptying so that we can glimpse the Holy Other, this Light who appears in ways unplanned, unexpected and unsettling. Our lives are the surprise that begins with the response, 'Let it be.'"—from Part 1
In Birthing God, forty women relate Spirit-filled moments: a grieving pastor walks a labyrinth and rediscovers the Rock of her existence; a human rights advocate re-encounters Allah in an intensely visceral moment in the sun; an educator, moved by an ancestral vision, launches a global tree-planting project to heal the wounds of slavery; a revolutionary awakens from a coma and realizes that all of life is infused with Spirit; a peasant woman under fire discovers within herself the God who gives her courage; and a disabled doctor, embraced by Shekhinah, turns her heart to rabbinical studies.
Grounded in raw experience and ideal for spiritual seekers and leaders of all faiths, these engaging and powerful stories invite you to consider the origins of your own spirituality and to deepen your relationship with God.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781594734809 |
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Publisher: | Turner Publishing Company |
Publication date: | 02/01/2013 |
Pages: | 304 |
Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
Lana Dalberg is available to speak on the following topics:
- Women's Spirituality and Women’s Spiritual Stories
- Writing from the Wellspring of Spirituality
- The Divine Feminine
- Enhancing Spirituality through Guided Visualizations
- Earth-Based Spirituality and Eco-Feminism
Click here to contact the author.
Kathe Schaaf is co-founder and past president of Gather the Women Global Matrix. She currently anchors many collaborative conversations connecting women and women's organizations internationally.
Kathe Schaaf is available to speak on the following topics:
- Now Is the Time: Women's Empowerment and Leadership
- Grassroots for the Greater Good: A Glimpse at Global Women’s Leadership in Action
- Making Local-Global Connections
- Collaborative Leadership: A New Paradigm
- Politics and Passions Colliding: Bridging the Divides
- The Divine Feminine
- Faith and Feminism for an Emerging Generation of Young Leaders
Click here to contact the author.
Table of Contents
Foreword ixPart IDivine Love and Love of Self 1Esperanza: Great Courage within Me 9Lindsey: Where We Find God 16Lori: Rocking in the Mother's Arms 21Hyun Kyung: From the Palms of God into the Vortex of Becoming 26Susan: Worthy to Stand Here with God 34Sridevi: Rooted in the Divine Feminine 40Arisika: The Body as Gateway to the Divine 44Rachel: The Sacred within Me 53Anna: Circling into the Womb of the Mother 58Alice: Resonating like Home 64Sarah: Hanging Out the Wash like Prayer Flags 70Ann: Seeing Ourselves with Love 75Rhina: The Church of the Open Door 81
Part IIDivine Connection 87Jeanette: Dropping into the Hands of God 93Irma: A Mother's Embrace 99Kimberly: Welcoming Occasions to Know God 106Elena: Celebrating the Mother's Diversity 112Belvie: Who Can We Become Together? 119Malisa: Seeing the Divine in Each Other (Namaste) 128Sadaya: The Womb of God through Which We All Come 134Carolina: Light and Love in All Beings 140Debbie: Experiencing the Divine in the Multitude 147Teresa: God among Us 152Susan: Appreciating the Sacredness of Life 157Marci: Like Family 162Emily: Seeing the Glory 165Alison: Restoring Our Sense of Interconnectedness 172Judith: Swirling in the Mandala That Connects Us All 177
Part IIIDivine Change 181SaraLeya: Under the Wings of Shekhinah 187Lucy: Embracing Our Imagination 192Ayesha: Madly in Love with God 198Allison: Not Fearing Death 204Viviana: All of Us Spirit 210Zoharah: Who Am I and Why Am I Here? 219Kristin: Listen to Mother Earth—She Has a Lot to Tell You 228Dionne: Drumming to Heal the Mother 235Stacy: Climbing into Her Branches 242Virginia: Stirring the Ashes 250Jann: Let Justice Roll Down Like Water 256Katie: Would You Hug Me, Jesus? 261
Epilogue 266Acknowledgments 268Meditations and Visualizations 269The Interview Questions: Eliciting Spiritual Stories 278Notes 280Suggested Resources 28
What People are Saying About This
"How diverse is your Spirit, Holy One, as these women testify. How many and varied are your Paths. Readers, explore these stories to clarify your own Way."
"Crosses boundaries to unite human and Divine.... Both draws on and departs from religious traditions ranging from Islam to Lutheranism, Catholicism to Zen Buddhism, simultaneously diving deeper into and transcending the limitations of that which we think we already know about the Divine."
"Amazing ... restores balance to our human understanding of the Divine [and] brings readers face to face with a Divinity who empowers and accompanies women of many religious traditions and blended faiths. A must read!"
"Heartful, multifaceted ... generous and inspiring. As a Buddhist practitioner, I generally don't use theistic language to describe deepest connections of love or clarity, so I found many of the perspectives in Birthing God to be especially interesting and thought provoking."
"[A] valuable resource [and] a real eye-opener.... Many insights into how this translates into traditional worship services. It is also a journey of self-discovery with the help of questions for reflection and a marvelous collection of meditations and visualizations."
"Offers a kaleidoscope of opportunities to invite in the Divine Feminine in myriad forms ... it can't help but expand our ways of thinking how we can experience the Divine. Helps all women realize we belong to God/dess."
"As women's stories are told, the depths of women's souls begin to be known. Speaking of the presence of Goddess and God in their lives, women transform religions."
"Reflect[s] a shift in consciousness regarding the Divine, one that is shaped by a deep and personal relationship with the Sacred within us and all around us, a knowing that is beyond images and names, a unifying energy that weaves into one all life on our planet. Shows how this Spirit-driven force within feminist spirituality continues to add to the universe story a multifaith, multicultural dimension steeped in wisdom and compassion and oriented toward planetary justice and peace. May these sacred stories give rise to many more."
"Would you like to meet forty women who are confident that in union with the Divine Feminine, they are going to give birth to vibrant new justice in this tired old world? Then treat yourself to this bookit will leave your heart brimming with life and love."
"At last, a vibrant investigation into the lived spirituality of God-intoxicated women! Lana Dalberg's Birthing God is more than a series of snapshots into the lives and thoughts of deeply spiritual women; it is a glimpse into the living Divine as She makes Herself known to us through these amazing seekers. The result is a spirituality of radical openness that offers a much-needed alternative to the closed-hearted and narrow-minded spirituality that dominates so much of contemporary religion."
"Challenge[s] us to understand divinity and spirituality beyond traditional ideas of gender and dogma. Offers reflection, inspiration and even practical guidance for anyone seeking to experience her faith more deeply."