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

by Carol Lee Flinders

Book Overview

In this brilliant exploration of the apparent conflicts and tensions between feminism and contemplative spirituality, Carol Lee Flinders uncovers how a life of meaning, self-knowledge, and freedom depends on both.

In 'At the Root of This Longing'

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006251315X
• ISBN13: 9780062513151
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Essential

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.

At the Root of this Longing

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!

important, compelling and transformative book

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.

A personal portrait of struggle, reconciliation, and hope.

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.

Totally engaging and scholarly!

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!