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Motherhood and God -Op/45
A personal story deeply penetrated by theology, this book aims to help others to discover the true meaning of motherhood as part of a relationship with God. Margaret Hebblethwaite, assistant editor of "The Tablet", is a feminist theologian.
- GenresSpiritualityParenting
147 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 1, 2019
So, I borrowed this from the church library and I wasn’t sure what I was going to get. It certainly wasn’t exactly what I expected.
What I appreciated:
Her confidence and insistence that God can and should be considered Mother as much as Father and the expansion of gendered conceptions if God.
Her chapter on the Sacraments and the way she spoke of the intimacy of mothering (including the often difficult emotional challenges) and knowing God through that experience really resonated with me. I felt that her writing was at its best in that chapter as well.
What I did not:
The first part about her own experiences as a mother were okay, but I had to remind myself of the time and context when she referenced her disciplinary style and other parenting practices.
By and large I felt her tone had this strange mix between a hesitant lack of confidence and a grating tone of superiority that almost made me quit the book altogether. (I also was not paying attention to the fact that she was writing as a Catholic and so her orientation to faith and her rather sneering dismissal of Anglicanism/Protestantism as a legitimate expression of Christian faith also almost lost me as well.)
In short, there were multiple times I either rolled my eyes or threw the book across the room, but it was a short read and had enough emotional insight to make me feel that it wasn’t a waste of time.
What I appreciated:
Her confidence and insistence that God can and should be considered Mother as much as Father and the expansion of gendered conceptions if God.
Her chapter on the Sacraments and the way she spoke of the intimacy of mothering (including the often difficult emotional challenges) and knowing God through that experience really resonated with me. I felt that her writing was at its best in that chapter as well.
What I did not:
The first part about her own experiences as a mother were okay, but I had to remind myself of the time and context when she referenced her disciplinary style and other parenting practices.
By and large I felt her tone had this strange mix between a hesitant lack of confidence and a grating tone of superiority that almost made me quit the book altogether. (I also was not paying attention to the fact that she was writing as a Catholic and so her orientation to faith and her rather sneering dismissal of Anglicanism/Protestantism as a legitimate expression of Christian faith also almost lost me as well.)
In short, there were multiple times I either rolled my eyes or threw the book across the room, but it was a short read and had enough emotional insight to make me feel that it wasn’t a waste of time.
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December 25, 2022A personal experience of finding God in motherhood and motherhood in God.
December 31, 2018
Twenty-nine years later this book was still as meaningful as the first time I read it, perhaps moreso since I have 29 more years of mothering on my resume as well as a new understanding of spirituality.
"Heaven will be like getting home after walking miles through the cold and wet and dark during a bus strike, and relaxing in a deep, warm bath with lots of bath foam and strains of Mozart coming through the open door."
"Heaven will be like getting home after walking miles through the cold and wet and dark during a bus strike, and relaxing in a deep, warm bath with lots of bath foam and strains of Mozart coming through the open door."
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews