Customer Reviews

Midwives of an Unnamed Future: Spirituality for Women in Times of Unprecedented Change

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For women frustrated with institutional religion but desiring a a deeper, more spiritual life, this book could become your "portable pastor." Even if you haven't had any experience with "feminine spirituality," you'll find all the basics here: attention to finding the divine in the everyday, the need for a community of women, and spiritual messages that take into account care for the earth.

This is a beautiful book, with striking photography and classy layout of the prayers, rituals, and reflections. The prose essays by the two authors are meaty with information and inspiration. Each chapter stands alone as a mini-retreat. Try it for Lent, or read a chapter a day on the bus or train. Or better yet, call some girlfriends and invite them over for coffee, tea and some discussion of this book. You'll be glad you did.

This book provides simple rituals to help create a retreat space. Whether you're looking to "escape" for a personal retreat at home, or if you're attending a retreat with others, this book offers the framework for you to create a sacred space in easy-to-understand steps.

The authors are co-founders of Wellstreams, a center for women's spirituality that in its first 12 years hosted more than 400 circles of women eager to deepen their own spirituality and find kindred spirits, "as they contemplated the changes needed in our church and our world." Wellstreams participants, like potential readers of "Midwives," are diverse in age, career, family responsibilities, spiritual tradition, and their relationship to formal religion.

The fifteen chapters comprising the main body of "Midwives" are divided into five parts: Tending the Holy, Opening to Mystery, Knowing When to Push, Surrendering to the Seasons, and Welcoming the Watershed Moments. Each opens with a full-page black and white photo to set the tone. The text contains brief ideas for creating sacred space, a reading designed for "slowing down," lyrics to a song for "going deeper," and a reflection on the theme. To close, the authors suggest methods for honoring the experience, such as journaling; a simple ritual; and a prayer and song for "moving back into daily life."

Any one of the chapters could be used, as is, by an individual, small group, or larger gathering of those interested in women's spirituality.

This thought-provoking book touches some of the deep realities experienced by contemporary lay women and women religious as they contemplate their rightful roles in Church and society. The combination of readings, reflective questions for individuals and groups, and ritual suggestions allow for integration of timeless "soul-truths."