Customer Reviews

At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst

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4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
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Carol Lee Flinders has written a very important book, one that I hope will capture the public's imagination as it has mine. I'm sharing my copy with everybody! I heard Ms. Flinders speak at a conference in July and felt compelled to buy her book, as I failed to see how Catholic women mystics could hold the key to emancipation from our (Western) modern, masculine culture and Judeo-Christian religions. Weaving the personal with the political and then proving that those paradigms are just constructs of the mind, Ms. Flinders shows us all - men and women - how feminism and true spirituality seek the same thing: more humanity, more love, more compassion, more attention and more care of humans for the earth and for each other. I sincerely hope men don't feel excluded by the word "feminism", as this book pertains as much to them as to any woman. My thanks to Carol Lee Flinders.

Carol Lee Flinders has embarked on the difficult task of reconciling feminism and spirituality. She, like several other scholars and writers today, recognizes the conflict between these two concepts and also the attraction each has for women. Flinders does a fine job outlining the tensions between feminism and spirituality, including the tension between finding voice and reveling in silence. Her ideas are cross-cultural and sweeping and lead to interesting and insightful connections; her probing of both Ghandi's ideas and the myths of Christian saints offers wonderful complications to the text. She depends too heavily on restating Gerda Lerner's work--I highly recommend readers read Lerner's The Creation of Patriarchy and The Creation of Feminist Consciousness themselves because these histories are well-written and important--though it becomes integral to Flinders' approach. The end of At the Root of This Longing loses its balance a bit and falls into unchecked essentialism, sentimentality, and optimism. However, overall, Flinders does important and articulate work for today's thinking, searching women and rightly emphasizes a balance between the personal and the political. She also points out the importance of working toward reconciliation for future generations.

A wonderful and thought-provoking book full of insight. A must read for anyone with intelligent questions about spirituality, feminism and religion. As a Jewish woman, I found I could relate to this book and I would recommend it highly. I was able to use information from this book to find my path in feminism and Judaism. Thank you to Carol Lee Flinders!

This book was profoundly useful in helping me reclaim my spirituality after having left the church in anger years ago. Ms. Flinders identifies elements essential in helping women find their wholeness. The book is written clearly and beautifully. I recommend it whole-heartedly.

Feminism and spirituality are at the heart of a personal struggle through which the author gracefully leads the reader. The two systems, often polarized against each other, are reconciled over the course of a lifetime of meditation and activism.

A student and scholar in her own right of women mystics and mystical literature, the author demonstrates that these God-seekers offer hope and lessons which can nourish feminism. The sacred feminine principle holds one key to a potentially brighter future for feminism. There is no preachiness here, no prescribed methodology, because it is recognized that all are part of the divine having the answers within, and that the ideas presented here, must be realized at a grassroots level to change society: Gandhi's struggle for a free India is used as one example.

Finally, if you like Hinduism, Western mystics such as Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila, if you are interested in reading some of the new directions coming forward (I believe) in feminism: this may be the book for you. And, if you are a father of a young daughter, you especially ought to read this book to be informed of what is happening to young girls in patriarchal cultures around the world.

Flinders does an outstanding job of reviewing the history and tracing the links of spirituality and feminism that have long been overlooked. She has referenced a plethora of literature to support her ideas and includes some often forgotten and overlooked myths and stories of Goddesses. She outlines 4 stages, or themes relating to a women's spirituality in contrast to feminism, and provides examples of her personal experiences. In addition, she raises points about violence to women and children, and tries to answer the question of how to empower women. I highly recommend this book, for both men and women!

This book is critical for women and feminist men alike. All will walk away re-examining their own views and values. A particular idea that is staying with me (on this reading) is the idea of "retreat > magnification > transformation." The book itself provides such an experience by allowing the reader to go within his or her own thoughts on the two themes, putting a magnifying glass to literature, sociology, history, and the writer's own history to illuminate the topics, thus creating the opportunity to transform or critically change one's one view of the Journey. As suggested on the back cover, I am recommending it to all I know and encouraging a local discussion group.

This book was excellent and thought-provoking. The topics raised are pertinent to every woman who values her spiritual and feminist sides. Dr. Flinders examines disparate issues which are troubling to many women. She does this in a way that is meant not so much to solve the issues but simply to raise them as subjects to be examined and brought to the light of day. I have recommended this book to many people and will continue to do so. This is a wonderful book!

I cannot say enough good about this book. For me as a woman this book brought up things I would never have thought of. It affirmed me in ways I didn't realize I needed affirmed. It provided not just a voice but vocabulary for things I've been started to feel but had no idea what they were or even if they were anything.
Flinder's own voice throughout this book is gentle and humble yet unafraid to say what she thinks and what she feels. Her appreciation of history and gathering evidence and not just pointing fingers was an element of the book I really appreciated. I will be reading this book again and again over my lifetime. Its not just a must read, its a must have.

Using fascinating examples, this book shows why some women struggle with traditional spirituality (and struggle, and struggle...). It's much more than whether God has a gender and Flinders explains it beautifully. Highly recommended.