Because Nothing Looks Like God

by Lawrence Kushner, Karen Kushner, Dawn W. Majewski (Illustrator)

Overview

"Where is God?"
“What does God look like?”
“How does God make things happen?”

With little hands, and big hands. With young hands and old hands, With your hands.” Mixing sparks of curiosity and spiritual imagination, this wondrous book lights children's creativity and shows how God is with us every day, in every way. It is a vibrant invitation to children and their adults to explore—together—what, where, and how God is in our lives. Multicultural,

Nondenominational, Nonsectarian; Endorsed by Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish Religious Leaders

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684424047
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/01/2000
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.11(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lawrence Kushner, author, lecturer and spiritual leader, is regarded as one of the most creative religious thinkers and writers in America. A commentator on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, he has focused us on spiritual renewal with wisdom and humor. Through his books and lectures, people of every faith and background have found inspiration and new strength for spiritual search and growth. It has been said that some spiritual leaders blend religion and psychology to help us walk better on the ground, but Lawrence Kushner draws on the wisdom of the mystics to help us dance better on the ceiling.

Kushner's acclaimed books include I’m God; You’re Not: Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego; Honey from the Rock: An Easy Introduction to Jewish Mysticism; Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary; The Book of Letters: A Mystical Hebrew Alphabet; Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians; and In God’s Hands, an inspiring fable for children, with Gary Schmidt (all Jewish Lights).

Kushner served as rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts, for almost thirty years; he is currently the Emanu-El scholar at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, and an adjunct faculty member at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. He is fascinated by graphic design and computers (designing most of his Jewish Lights books). He enjoys Mozart, hanging around sailboats, and making his granddaughters giggle.

Karen Kushner, a clinical social worker, specializes in the healing power of family dynamics.

Dawn Majewski holds a B.F.A. in Illustration from Moore College of Art. She has been staff artist for several corporations; her illustrations and paintings appear in corporate and private collections. She lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Editorial Reviews

According to the authors' note to parents and teachers, the Kushners address the often unspoken questions of young children who hear about God in church. This multicultural, nondenominational, and non-sectarian attempt poses three questions:"Where is God?,""What does God look like?," and"How does God make things happen?" There are various answers to these questions, ranging from images such as God"is in the first ripening tomato, and in cookies just fresh from the oven," to the ideas that God is"wherever we let God in." In answer to what God looks like, the authors write,"God looks like nothing," but there are many things people cannot see and yet they know they are there. The premise being that God is in every aspect of life and that God makes things happen through people's acts of caring about each other and their community. There is no mention of prayer, houses of worship, or any of the traditional forms of religious life. Majewski's illustrations are bright and sunny, depicting families of color, the young, the old, in the US, and in a few world communities. The picture-book format is appropriate to the very young child, but the text, although simple, may have concepts more easily understood by older children. Parents who believe that God is within all aspects of the spiritual and temporal world may find this book helpful as a discussion starter, but it's not much more than that. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

"What a delight to have a book about God that does not talk down to children, but lifts them up and takes their spiritual lives seriously…. A good place for parents and children to wander and wonder."
—Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, Rabbi, Congregation Beth-El Zedeck; author of God's Paintbrush and other books

“Shapes great wisdom into the words and the images where children live and wonder and learn…. The perfect guide, companion, teacher.”
—Walter Wangerin, Jr., author of The Book of God; Paul; and many other books

“Helps children explore….the most important truths, common to all traditions, encouraging children to be curious, confident, and compassionate.”
—Martin Boroson, author of Becoming Me: A Story of Creation

“Delighful and insightful…. Like adults, children have spiritual hungers. The Kushners and Dawn Majewski provide a creative and nourishing meal for children and adults, who hunger for the mystery of God.”
—Bishop Robert F. Morneau, Auxiliary Bishop of Green Bay

“A grand subject. Simply and movingly told.”
—Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are

From the Publisher