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Memories of God: Theological Reflections on a Life

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I have read few books that touched me as strongly as this book did. Ms. Bondi is both a skillful storyteller and a courageous woman, willing to share her own deeply personal experiences with the public. I am very grateful for her willingness to take this kind of risk on behalf of others. I can't speak for the author's intent, but my reading of her book gave me a sense of God that enriched my life. In my opinion, these writings have the same feel to them that scripture does - at least, the kind of scripture that brings us closer to God.

Roberta Bondi has obvious roots in the wisdom of the Early Church Fathers and Mothers. Yet, her engagement of Saints through the centuries is matched only by an equally deep engagement with her life story. She speaks of ordinary times with an extraordinary vision that uncovers the sacred. Her story invites the reader to look with respect at their own journey. Some authors use profound theoretical constructs, some use personal stories: Dr Bondi is one who does both seamlessly and conveys a conviction that we can do the same.

Systematic theology or memoir? Yes. The organization and intent is theological leading us from our existence in God, our humanity, our desire for the good, crucifixion, resurrection, and beyond. The method is to use her own life to lead us through the topics. Bondi suffered from traumatic childhood experiences including bad revival preaching. She was maimed by an image of a wrathful God that demands our sacrifice. Through study, prayer, and revelation, she learns that God, as God and as a human being, came among us to bring us healing....Read Chapter 4 before going to hear any Good Friday or Easter sermons.

I would recommend this book to others to read as an exploration into their own personal understanding of God and the impact that relationship has on their relationships with others. It was a very enjoyable and easy book to read but also one that prompted me into greater reflection on my own life.

Bondi describes her own experiences growing up with a less than perfect family structure and how that affected her image of God, her understanding of Christianity, and her relationships. As a woman, I understood what she was saying and found her personal stories to touch deeply my heart and mind. I found that her experiences and growth helped me to explore my own past and to look at how those relationships have affected my own relationship with God, the Christian faith, and others.

For men, I would recommend this book as a means of understanding more fully what it means to be a man of God, what women have suffered over the years in a patriarchical society, and to begin to gain a more full understanding of who God really is, containing both woman and man.

Memories of God by Roberta Bondi is a rare book of personal honesty about religious experience. There are many people who talk about doing narrative theology, but she actually does it, mixing intimate stories of her personal life with clear and accessible theologial reflection. This book has changed my life, and the lives of many people I have given it to. It has given me words to talk about my own experiences in ways I never thought I'd be able to do. Beautifully written, it speaks from the heart. I appreciate the author's courage in sharing her story.

Assigned to me to be read as before a spirituality seminar, I really enjoyed looking at the theological reflections of this past generation through the eyes of a theologian who is a woman. I was able to relate so much of what she said to experiences I have had with other women who have had a great influence on my own growth of thinking about God in these years.

In Memories of God Theological Reflections on a Life, Roberta Bondi shares her life story relating her search for a relationship with God that was true to her life experience. Growing up with a harsh father, fire and brimstone southern Baptist preaching, and a male dominated culture, Bondi struggles to reconcile all the parts of who she is - being a female with an intellect, being up-happy and unable to truly please anyone, with what she perceives as people's and God's expectations of her. Through intense and painful prayer and reflection, and encountering a view of a loving and forgiving God through experiences of beauty, adult unconditional love, and in the writings of the early church, Bondi comes to see herself as beloved by God in who she is.

Storytelling, questioning, and prayerful reflection are highlighted in Bondi's book as the means to truly understand self and our relationship with God. Without these processes our relationship remains at best, an intellectual impersonal assent. Opening ourselves through probing our deepest fears, feelings and beliefs brings the joy of self knowledge and of our belovedness before God.

The book Memories of God, written by Roberta C. Bondi, is about a female professor who wrote a memoir to fully understand her own thoughts about her life and her faith. She faced many challenges of being a female in a male dominated home life, school life and work life. This memoir examines her relationships that she has and helps her to gain a better understanding of her relationship with God.

This memoir is a great book to read to get a better understanding of how culture shapes are lives and our beliefs. Bondi referenced the early monastic father's articles which helped her see a different side of God that her own images she learned from her controlling father. Anyone who reads this book can grasp new images of God as our Father. This book has been helpful for my particular ministerial context in that it reminds me that not all people have the same view of God. I particularly have a great relationship with my father but can use this book to reference other relationships in view of my perception of God.

Roberta Bondi is well grounded in theology and church history and she blends wonderfully her personal stories with this knowledge of the faith. What is especially beautiful and moving is her realization of the true meaning of God's love she found in her Aunt Ree and in Mother Jane at the Anglican Benedictine Monastery. Her mother's sacrificial life and valuing of beauty were also ways she began to "know God". The only man who fared well was Richard. What is lacking for me in this book is what we can learn about God from maleness. Her life experiences, especially with teachers, were so cruel. The book becomes bogged down in her depression, and I did too! The repetitiveness of her memories was confusing and unnecessary. Perhaps some editing would help, but then perhaps we do repeat those most memorable stories as we try to make meaning of them!

I would recommend Ms. Bondi's book, Memories of God, to anyone who has struggled with disconnections between their experiences and the accepted wisdom of society and traditional Christianity's view of God. This book will be especially meaningful to women who grew up in the 1950's and 60's, when women's dependence on men was no longer biological, i.e. due to physical strength or the need for a strong defender of the home, but was necessary for societal order. During this time in American society, it was the "natural" order of society to redirect women's gifts to the home, lady's social clubs and volunteer work. Underlying this societal necessity of the authority of men were culturally supportive messages not only from society, but also from churches in the way God was portrayed. Ms. Bondi heard these societal messages and tried to live them but never was at ease with them. This book investigates how one can take off society's and traditional Christianity's "lens" of what it means to be a woman in the late 20th century and find a healthy way to connect women's experiences and belief in God.

Ms. Bondi explores sin, prayer, God as Father, the cross, sacrifice, and salvation and creates a paradigm shift in her faith life through theological reflection, by connecting her experiences with great Christine doctrines. Her courage in writing this memoir is evident considering her career as a professor in areas connected to religious thought. I am thankful for her courage and for what her book offers to all who have faced similar issues and have searched for healing.