Parenting as a Spiritual Journey

by Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer

A perfect gift for the new parent. A helpful guide for anyone seeking to re-envision family life. Parenting as a Spiritual Journey explores the transformative spiritual adventure that all parents can experience while bringing up their children.

Parenting as a Spiritual Journey shows, by looking at a typical day's routine, how even the seemingly insignificant moments in a day with your child can be full of spiritual meaning. From waking up in the morning to bedtime at night, there are so many opportunities for parent and child to connect in a spiritual way. Fuchs-Kreimer helps us see those possibilities, revealing how parents can come to recognize, understand and appreciate the joys, insecurities, wonder and awe that can contribute to the spiritual fulfillment of raising children.

Fuchs-Kreimer's interviews with over one hundred parents, plus her own experiences as a mother of two, illuminate the journey we take every day in raising our children. Included are rituals, prayers, and inspiring passages from sacred Jewish texts--as well as from other religious traditions--that are woven throughout this wise, funny and lyrical book.

Genres: Parenting, Spirituality

183 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Josh Sweeney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Might be one of the best parenting book for Christian education

[C Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have said, this book is a collection of anecdotes from dozens of parents of various backgrounds. I enjoyed the diversity and variety of the perspectives offered. It's a sweet book in terms of helping me feel like I'm in the company of other new parents: alternately exhausted and exhilarated by the privilege of caring for a little one. You're almost sure to find an anecdote that hits home for you in this collection, since just about every viewpoint and experience related to new parenting is included. A couple have stayed with me and I'm grateful to have read them, as they give me a little more peace about my own parenting journey / have helped me frame things in a more thoughtful manner so I can be a better parent.

However, the lack of a single thread or story arc ultimately means this book is a couple of hundred pages of paragraph-length anecdotes organized loosely by theme. That is great when one is sleep deprived and only able to tune in for a couple of pages, but made it difficult for me to sit down and read this for any length of time in one sitting or feel like the book was "building" up to something meaningful. I found the brevity of the various anecdotes and the organization of the book tiresome in the end: I'd rather read a collection of short stories that each span a dozen pages and encompass a few themes, rather than a collection of several hundred paragraph-length anecdotes that don't build on each other apart from offering various perspectives on a single theme.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the somewhat intimidating title prevent you from reading this! I loved it from the prologue when the author who is a Rabbi with a PhD working as a professor declared, "All the theology I'd studied would not help me raise my children. But it might work the other way. Raising children might help me learn something about God."

She interviewed families of different faiths about their experiences, and the book is arranged in sections like a day with a small child (i.e. 4 am, getting dressed, play time, nap time, dinnertime, bath time, story time, bedtime). She touches on discipline, marriage, work, humor, and the importance of stories and ritual. Portions moved me to tears and there were also some great "take away" ideas.

One of my favorite comments was from the sibling section: "In this house are the people who are going to be there for you no matter what. These are your long-term allies. Don't even consider meanness."

She clearly "gets" parenting and I was a nicer mom after I'd been reading this book! She closes with the words of one of her interviewees on parenting. "I could not believe anything could hurt so much and also feel so wonderful at the same time... All I want on my tombstone is two words, she tried."

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book. I feel an urge to go out and buy a copy for every parent I know. This book is spiritual but never preachy. The author divides the book into themed sections by the time of day (e.g. "Bedtime: Separation") and then shares stories from parents she interviewed about the spiritual aspects of this experience. I loved the stories and appreciated that the author was willing to bring herself into the book (and share her own process in writing it) without it becoming self-centered and without imposing her own meaning on others' stories.

The book focused to some extent on Jewish tradition (and more broadly on Judeo-Christian experience) but included a number of stories from people belonging to other religious faiths as well as agnostics and atheists.

(My book is an earlier edition than the one pictured, with a slightly different title, but I think it's the same.)

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm wary of most parenting books but this one is just amazing. I never thought this deeply about connecting my faith with my parenting. There are so many stories that uplifted me, some that had me roll my eyes (but I think the author was doing the same thing :), and others that I could very much relate to. Super book that makes parenting a deeper experience, even for those who don't have faith in a higher being. I feel so much closer to both my kids and my faith after reading this.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feared that this book would be a "how to" book and have long lists of things that I was supposed to do to be the spiritual parent. It was nothing like that. Instead it relates the experience of many parents in many situations - some are believing, some not - and inspires in a unique way.

This book also helped me to feel connected again to my own spirituality at a time in my life that I can't make it to services and most events at temple. In short, I loved it.

[Emily Abramson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an important book to read as a parent. Filled with rich anecdotes that give me the courage to carry on no matter what parenthood may throw at me. The structure of the book is wholly unique, set up like a medicine wheel, beginning with 4 am and ending with 4 am on the other side. There are no tidy answers given, and there is bold humility throughout. Very moving and reflective read.