Customer Reviews

A God Who Looks Like Me

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

First, I found out this book is being reprinted in November of 1999 and will be available in bookstores late November. Its a good book. I liked it and learned more about how I could embrace God and heal the deep religious wounds of my childhood. Thanks, Patricia, for taking the time to write this compelling and challenging book. I always thought that if there was a God, he/she would have to be bigger than the limited and unembracable god I learned about in catholic school. This book dosen't put down religion, it challenges each of us to see that a God crafted by men is a limited God. And to search for God and spirituality that will truly heal us.

I really enjoyed this book and even gave it to our community library. The author does a great job of outlining the problems using stories from people in her groups, and then she shows how to put that behind you and find a God who you can really relate to. It was so refreshing to to read a well written book by an educated and knowledgable women on this subject. I went on to read all of her books and heard her speak. Every book continues to develop this theme of embracing a larger view of god and ourselves.

I recommend this book to women of all religions that have questions and problems with religious dogma. The writer uses a lot of examples of abused women but, I think she is just expressing her own experiences and that is what makes this book so real. I actually had tears in my eyes when I read one prayer in this book, and I was on a public bus! I will read this book again and again for spiritual comfort. I think this book has something important to say for women - no matter how cynical they may be about organized religions!

After reading Patricia's second book Be Full of Yourself, I was given her first book by my therapist. What a life-saver A God Who Looks Like Me has been! I am a spiritual person yet have no desire to partake of religion as offered in mainstream churches. A God Who Looks Like Me helped me sort through my religious past and design a personal spirituality that works for me. The book put "god the father" in perspective as a relative newcomer to the heavens. As Patricia puts it, "Long before Jehovah was imagined into being there was the Mother." After reading her book I stood taller as a woman!

I was led to Patricia's first book while reading Chapters 3 & 4 of her latest book Be Full of Yourself! the Journey From Self-Criticism to Self-Celebration. After exloring the theological orgins of my self-critical attitudes in those chapters, I longed for a systematic and supportive guide to sort through my religious past on the way to a personally defined spirituality in the present. A God Who Looks Like Me did all that and more. Her book inspired my husband and I to parent our children differently, to share power wihtin our relationship, and to clarify the kind of religious community we are looking for - one that celebrates "many names" of the divine and will support our daughters to be full of themselves!

for women recovering from the abuses of the church and relationships. It really touched my heart as a woman from a traditional religous path with devastating results. This book is very empowering and does a great job of handing the responsibility back to women for thier lives and thier spiritual growth. The author understand the hows and whys of this loss. This book has helped me understand myself more and more. It gets to the root of the issue which is where real change can begin. I will be purchasing this one for the public library hoping that a younger woman will read it. It is a life changing book. After this one read The Dance of The Disident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd. I stand taller and hold my head up higher than I have ever done in my life. Blessings.

Wow, what a page turner! Could not put this one down! It reaffirmed my opinions of what a one-gender sided book of cosmology mythologized the Bible truly is! I wish everyone could put aside their Judeo-Christian beliefs and read this book with an open mind. All the bible is, is a male-dominated, priest-written collection of stories and stolen myths from other cultures and beliefs trying to explain how the universe came about and who would be in control and in charge of it!!! Please read this book, ladies. You'll not regret your decision, I promise!

Ms. Reilly does a wonderful job of weaving femininity and religion together in this book. She definitely did her homework when researching for this book. She uses ancient religious teachings to accentuate modern religious teachings concerning women and religion. Also, the journaling suggestions are enriching and very useful. This book is wonderful for the woman who is searching for the role of womanhood in religion.

I enjoyed reading a book that offered a Feminist perspective to religion without bashing men. Although written for women, I think it is a must read for men too! We are all influenced by religion whether we are atheists, agnostic or devoted to a religion.

"A God Who Looks Like Me: Discovering a Woman-Affirming Spirituality" is the result of Patricia Lynn Reilly's personal journey. This book came at a wonderfully opportune time, when my daughter and I had been involved with a group of other mothers and daughters who meet to explore the Goddess in all her forms and to give our daughters a strong and positive view of their womanhood. That is the basis of this book.

It is arranged into four sections. The introduction "Beginning our Journey" is the author's personal history (should this be herstory?), her exploration of religion and her search for stories of women in theology. She wove these stories into "rituals, performance pieces, retreats, workshops and sermons", which she shared with women throughout the U. S. and Canada. Her goal was to rebirth the women of old and to hear the untold stories of the women she met.

The first section "Women's religious past" explores the effects of being raised in male centered religions on our "cultural, familial and personal histories" and invites the reader to join in with a circle of women as they share the memories and feelings of their religious past. There are many helpful exercises that make this book an experiential process as well as a fascinating read.

The second section explores the "Religious Language and Imagery" that affects most women. She explores the male image of God that we were raised with and how to "develop woman-affirming alternatives to the traditional language of religion".

Part three "Religious Myths and Stories" "is a journey into the truth of a woman's life, beginning with her birth, traveling through the creation myths ..., venturing into her body's unfolding cycles and rhythms, exploring her connections to other women, and confronting the fear of aging that accompanies her throughout life." This process is explored through women's stories from different religious traditions and ancient mythology. Each chapter discusses a different cycle of life and gives stories to examine and exercises that allow us to heal these areas.

Part four "Having had a spiritual awakening" allows us to take the personal transformation experienced from completing the exercises within the book and bring this awakening into all of our relationships in a positive and celebratory way.

I found A God Who Looks Like Me to be a powerful and inspirational book that explores the feminine aspects of Divinity. Highly recommended!