Book Description
In this follow-up to her marvelous book, Mother God, Sylvia gives us many insights into our often-misunderstood Father God and the viewpoints about Him. From His history as put forth by humankind in the early days of organized religion to how we view Him today, Sylvia reveals His true attributes in a logical and truthful manner to give us a better understanding of our Father in heaven. Using her uncanny psychic skills and her ability to communicate with the Other Side, Sylvia dispels many of the false and traditional beliefs about the Father God and helps us to embrace Him more deeply and fully.
Sylvia helps us see Father God in a different way . . . one in which everyone can gain a deeper understanding and love for this often-maligned Entity. If anyone wants to commune more closely with their Creator and to share His unmitigated and unconditional love, this fascinating book is the answer . . . for it not only shows us Sylvia’s tremendous insight and love for Him, but also tells us how we can enjoy that same intimacy in our everyday lives. In her own indomitable style, Sylvia again shows us that she goes against many conventional beliefs in presenting a God that is truly all-loving, merciful, and forgiving . . . one Whom she has dedicated her life and work to in what she would say is . . . âa labor of love.â
Customer Reviews:
One view, anyway.......2007-10-05
Was disappointed that Ms Browne kept to 'the God--He' issue so much instead of being more open.
Father God : Co-Creator to Mother God.......2007-05-13
Father God: Co-creator to Mother God
Again, Sylvia has it right. A must read along with Mother God.
Sylvia Browne - The Dependable.......2007-05-13
I loved this book. It is quick reading but full of valuable information about the world's religions; each having their own perceptions and originations of one God. Well worth reading; much information repeated as in most of Sylvia's books but I find that by repeating it enough, I do remember and finally digest it.
Just Like All Her Books.......2007-04-01
This is a terrific book to go along with her others. She just seems to keep on putting them out here for us to enjoy.
Another Must Read, Must Own.......2007-03-24
Sylvia Browne is a genius and reaches the intellect with her thought-provoking literary skills. Get yourself a copy soon.
Book Description
Sylvia Browne, in her own indomitable style, again defies convention in this uniquely informative compilation of diligently researched facts and personal accounts about the premise of a female divinityânamely, the Mother God (also known as the feminine principle).
Spanning time from the earliest beginnings of humankind, when the time of the âGoddessâ was at its peak, to the current era, with its myriad beliefs and religions, Sylvia takes us on a journey of discovery, where she discusses the suppression of the âMother Goddessâ by the male-dominated politics of modern-day religious dogma.
Using a combination of historical data and poignant and heartwarming stories revealing the power and miracles attributed to the Mother God, Sylvia leads us from the question of âDoes She existâ to the logical, fact-based conclusion that She does . . . and then shows us how to call upon Her to help us in our everyday lives.
Customer Reviews:
Spirituality.......2007-10-05
Not at all what I expected in a book about the Goddess, who is the Mother of the God. Too much traditional orthodox religion.
Finally!.......2007-09-19
Having studied all aspects of all spiritual paths,religions,dogmas,etc..I found it to be a great refresher!This book should be titled for beginners seeking truth in an all loving God/Goddess-FEMALE/MALE.For God/Goddess is all loving.
Once again the incomparable controversial Sylvia Browne shares her light with the uninformed-I LOVE IT!You will learn many paths & Traditions that you may never have heard of,if your new to seeking truth in God/Goddess.I especially love how Sylvia shoots straight from the hip and offers such wonderful insights with references/weblinks to seek out what she puts forth.A really great read and an easy one to understand.I Love you Sylvia.
Stay the way you are and keep sharing your knowledge and wisdom with the world for you are an emmisary of Love,Light and Truth.
Wonderful book.......2007-04-12
I loved this book. We are Gnostic Christians and this was a very spiritual, revealing book. It expands your love for God and makes perfect sense. Sylvia Browne has opened my life up and given me a loving God in my life with no dogma and sin and all the other negatives some beliefs want you to have. He walks beside me and does not think I'm a "sinner" who needs to be "saved" or that I need to think less of myself in order to love Him. Mother God is equal with God but different. He's the intellectual side and she's the emotional side. Together they are one. It just enhances your feelings of love and protection and the belief in miracles. Thank you Sylvia!
MOTHER GOD.......2007-03-14
I founhd it to be very profound and enlighting. I am a big fan of MS. BROWNS
and have yet read anything from her that has not helped me search for inner peace and soul searching. Can't wait for her next book.
Fabulous Book on the Divine Feminine.......2007-03-08
One again, Sylvia has managed to write an absolutely wonderful book on the Divine Feminine entity that guides us all. And she does it not in scholarly or intellectual writing, but a quick and friendly manner that allows everyone to feel the glory, love and wonder that emanates from Her, if only we are willing to accept it. Because so very little is written on Mother God, her book, I am sure. is an instant classic on the subject. I am also pleased that Sylvia is finally getting the gumption to mention Mother God in her newer books, including the one on the Mystical Life of Jesus, which is another of her wonderful books on religion that I would highly recommend.
I personally like the fact that she interweaves herstorical and scholarly evidence of Mother Goddess together with her own personal experiences, client letters and interviews because it humanizes her work and makes it easier for the average person to understand and accept.
Her writing style is comfortable and it shows the peace, love and joy that she personally experiences in her own communications with Mother God. This is a truly blessed work
Book Description
Hannah's Hope provides healing and hope for women that have faced pain of miscarriage, infertility, or a failed adoption.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful book.......2007-07-14
This book will really comfort you to know that the feelings you are experiencing are okay and you are not alone!
Worth every penny, and more!.......2007-06-04
I was directed to HANNAH'S HOPE by an online friend. We "just happened" to be placing an order at that time, so I added it. When the book arrived last week, I picked it up just to scan through it and couldn't put it down until I absolutely had to.
A couple nights ago when I couldn't sleep, I picked it up again and started from the beginning, highlighter in hand. Only a few chapters in, I'd forgotten the highlighter, forgotten the time, and was just engrossed. Normally, that only happens with fiction or John Piper. This is a great book, and I read the whole thing straight through in that one sitting. In fact, it's still on my current reading list, because I'm going back through it again, more slowly.
I've seen the same tendency in myself that many women battling infertility have, to focus so much on my empty arms that life is miserable not only for me but for everyone around me. But I do not want to be "that woman." My identity is wrapped in the identity of Jesus Christ, whether He ever allows me to a mother or not, and life does not revolve around me or all the ins and outs of infertility and whatever my underlying cause is.
HANNAH'S HOPE is just such a book to help me be the woman I want to be - and that I believe God wants me to be - even if God never gives us children. Mrs. Saake writes from first-person experience with all three child-bearing difficulties she addresses. She's struggled to conceive. She's miscarried multiple times. She and her husband have watched multiple adoptions fall through. She knows what she's about in this arena.
And she is so gracious, and so hopeful! She understands the pain that many women feel, and she understands how nonsensical some of our reactions may seem to what are everyday occurrences to everyone else. But though she kindly acknowledges self-pity and depression as natural emotional responses to everything an infertile or grieving woman is going through, she doesn't allow her readers to wallow. Instead, she points us always, gently, to Christ:
"God knows this grief personally. He has gone to greater measures to make you His child than you will ever go in the pursuit of growing your own family...I like to paraphrase [John 3:16] this way: 'For God so longed to call me His child, that He offered the life of His only biological Son to pay the price of my adoption.'"
As can be assumed by the title, she bases her writing around the story of Hannah from 1 Samuel 1. Each chapter deals with a verse or two from that story, and the various challenges or questions revealed about infertility. She sorts out issues like envy and rivalry, the desire to hear nothing and everything about a friend's or loved one's children at the same time, the impact of infertility and the pursuit of children on marriages, where ethical boundaries are placed by God, how to be a part of a church that seems insensitive to your grief, and how to minister and worship in the midst of heartache.
Mrs. Saake's treatment of such an emotional and devastating issue is one of the best available. HANNAH'S HOPE is written out of a heart that's been there, and has learned to hold tightly to Christ, because only in Him is true strength found.
A true blessing.......2007-05-27
This book has brought to life the story of Hannah for me and brought me great comfort as I struggled to accept my infertility.
Thank you
Excellent Book.......2007-05-27
Going through infertility was one of the greatest challengs I had ever faced. After reading "Hannah's Hope", it gave me the hope that I needed. Ms. Saake described exactly how I was feeling. I don't think I could have made it through without that book.
Helped by Hannah's Hope.......2007-05-03
I was given this book just weeks after losing a second long awaited baby that had been conceived after over 3 years of infertility when we were reaching the end of the line with our treatment options. Though everyone around us wanted to help and be encouraging, next to no one could. They simply couldn't begin to understand how much everything hurt and their comments would tax me because they couldn't know what would cause pain. Then came Jenni's book. I literally couldn't stop reading it until I reached the end (at 3:30am). It was like a balm to my spirit to read my own thoughts and words coming from someone else. Her journey has been even longer and harder than mine, and she was able to provide genuine empathy and sound Biblical counsel. I've since bought 10 more copies to give to relatives and churches and have passed it on to other women in our shoes. This is a must read for ANYONE who's going through infertility/child loss or anyone who wants to know how to love them better. A must for pastors as well.
Customer Reviews:
Mary as Model of Faith.......2006-12-28
In reading Fr. Caster's interpretation of Mary's life, I realized that I have been "thinking as a child" (1 Cor. 13:11) when it comes to the Blessed Mother. Through the pages of "Mary in Her Own Words" I saw clearly what makes sense: neither Mary nor Jesus came to the world with a script; they were not always able to discern God's will or their own mission instantaneously or with great certitude.
Using the words attributed to Mary in scripture and the circumstances that prompted them, Fr. Caster shows us, for example, that when Jesus, at 12, stayed behind to teach in the temple, neither he nor Mary was clear on whether this event marked the beginning of his redeeming mission. Mary was not rebuked by Jesus' response when his parents found him; she was trying to understand so that she could cooperate fully with the will of God.
And at the marriage feast of Cana, Mary knew it was enough to tell the stewards to do as Jesus said, though she had no idea what would happen. And Jesus hesitated not because he was annoyed or knew this was not the right time, but through concern for the suffering of those close to him, especially his mother, when his public ministry began. Like Mary, he had no specific information about God's plan. The message for us today is that even the divine/human Redeemer and his Mother, conceived without sin, relied on faith, and that we today can find our way through that same virtue.
These stories of Mary's words, along with chapters on the development of Church teaching, offer inspiration and support for individuals and groups. The short chapters lend well to use in retreats or faith-sharing gatherings, and the organization is flexible enough that they need not be used in sequence.
Amazon.com
In an age when "keeping up with the Joneses" refers not only to material riches but also to a whirlwind of activities, author Katrina Kenison humbly asks, "Just whose standards am I living by, anyway?" Kenison, mother of two sons and former annual editor of The Best American Short Stories anthology since 1990, understands the hectic agendas, short tempers, and full-time careers today's families endure. But she has also learned to limit the chaos. The title comes from Kenison's youngest son, Jack, cuddled up with mom one quiet afternoon as she crochets mitten strings. He holds up a long piece of yarn and proclaims, "I'm knitting a mitten string for God"--a sweet phrase, but a bit misleading. Despite a sprinkling of minor religious references, the larger focus of Kenison's beautifully written first book lies in living with care and awareness. Chapters with titles like "Grace," "Healing," "Spirit," and "Breathing" offer soothing pictures of a family life that honors patience, imagination, and Sundays without plans. Kenison weaves together personal stories and wisdom from such philosophers as Thoreau and Anne Morrow Lindbergh; the graceful resulting tapestry shows how peace and simplicity can be savored in a world hell-bent on pushing people to accomplish more, own more, and do it all as quickly as possible. --Liane Thomas
Book Description
In an age when "keeping up with the Joneses" refers not only to material riches but also to a whirlwind of activities, author Katrina Kenison humbly asks, "Just whose standards am I living by, anyway?" Kenison, mother of two sons and former annual editor of The Best American Short Stories anthology since 1990, understands the hectic agendas, short tempers, and full-time careers today's families endure. But she has also learned to limit the chaos. The title comes from Kenison's youngest son, Jack, cuddled up with mom one quiet afternoon as she crochets mitten strings. He holds up a long piece of yarn and proclaims, "I'm knitting a mitten string for God"--a sweet phrase, but a bit misleading. Despite a sprinkling of minor religious references, the larger focus of Kenison's beautifully written first book lies in living with care and awareness. Chapters with titles like "Grace," "Healing," "Spirit," and "Breathing" offer soothing pictures of a family life that honors patience, imagination, and Sundays without plans.Kenison weaves together personal stories and wisdom from such philosophers as Thoreau and Anne Morrow Lindbergh; the graceful resulting tapestry shows how peace and simplicity can be savored in a world hell-bent on pushing people to accomplish more, own more, and do it all as quickly as possible.--Liane Thomas
Customer Reviews:
Amazing book--a must read for all Moms.......2007-01-03
This book hit home. One of my best friends gifted me with this book and it has been one of the best gifts ever. I work full time and have a 10 month old daughter. After reading just a chapter I felt relieved to know I am not the only one feeling stressed with all there is to do everyday while maintaining a home, work, relationships,etc. This book gives permission to slow down, and it says it's okay to stop and listen and not do the big birthday parties and attend all the holiday parties and events. Just being and listening and not doing anything together is time well spent.
Wise, gentle reflections.......2006-09-16
I truly enjoyed this book. It is not a religious book (despite the title) nor a parenting guide; it is a deeply spiritual look at what it means to be a family.
She feels like a friend........2006-02-27
Mitten Strings touched me in such a way that I felt like I was reading a letter from a good friend. There was a sense of peace reading it and imagining my family in her book. Her basic premise is to slow down, notice the details of your children's lives and be present with your family. But the book goes so much further than that. We all know to slow down...but to be reminded how magical it can be, with illustrations that are so tender is even better. I highly recommend this book and in fact purchased seven more to give to my friends as a special gift. I'd love to meet the author (Katrina) and sit over a cup of something on the front porch while our children run circles around the house!
A Beautiful, Thoughtful Book - Requires the right frame of mind to appreciate.......2005-12-17
As others have noted, this book is a series of reflections about motherhood and the importance of slowing down to savor daily life with loved ones.
This book energized me to make several changes in my own life. Part of my motivation for homeschooling this year was a desire to have a more conscious, contemplative, and purposeful life rather than a frantic-mad-dashing here and there life.
In fact, as the holidays approach, many of my friends are feeling "swamped", "overwhelmed", "stressed" - feelings I remember all too well from previous years. While I still have my moments, overall I am much less stressed than last year. The overall tenor of the holidays is much happier and calmer. I have done my best to pare the holidays down to the essentials, to keep things simple and personal, rather than grandly extravagant. Extravagance has its place, but when children are young, I think simplicity makes so much more sense.
I loved this book so much I chose it for my book club of busy suburban SAHMs. I was quite surprised to find only two (out of nine) loved it as I did! Three thought the book had "some good ideas", but they clearly didn't connect with the author.
The other four were quite negative about Mitten Strings. They felt it was too preachy and perfect and Pollyanna-ish, that "real" people couldn't live like the Kenisons without lots of money. But it's not a financial lifestyle she is talking about, it's an internal one, it is simply making a conscious effort to notice, appreciate, prioritize and streamline.
In trying to figure out the mixed response to this book in my book club, I came up with a couple of ideas. I think the crux of liking the book has to do with the following:
First, it depends on whether you are at a point in your life where you actually consider rushing madly to be a negative thing, rather than proof you are productive. Some people feel empowered and energized by rushing and being busy!
Second, it depends on how contemplative you are feeling when you read the book. The more contemplative you feel, the more likely you might enjoy the book.
Finally, it depends on whether you enjoy visual and poetic language. The author writes with a heartfelt, genuine sentimentality that, while I enjoyed it tremendously, can apparently be off-putting to people with more pragmatic sensibilities.
One reviewer said they would not give this book to a parent of an autistic child, or one with Down's Syndrome. I actually think this book has considerable merit for families with special needs children - the key is knowing WHEN to give the book. I have a child who was diagnosed with autism at 3, and when he was younger and we were rushing around madly from therapy to therapy, ransacking our home to make it an engaging learning environment, etc..., I would not have been in the frame of mind to appreciate it.
In fact, according to my three criteria above: the mad rushing was proof I was doing everything I could to help him; who has time to be contemplative when you are trying to save your child from autism; and poetic musings about the wonderful lives of families with typically developing children would have been quite upsetting.
NOW I see things differently. I think the ideas in the book have even MORE relevance for children with special needs, who often thrive in calm, centered environments. I think children with special needs deserve to have their progress, however slow or small, deeply savored and appreciated.
Well anyway. This is not a book that EVERYONE is necessarily going to love, in spite of the steady parade of 5 star reviews. Nevertheless, I join the parade and give this book 5 stars based on my own incredibly positive experience reading it.
This book changed my life..........2005-10-05
It is rare to say but so true. It was given to me by an older woman and it truely changed the way I parent my two boys, see life and helped me create a summer that I will treasure. A must read for those who want to slow down and get off the "treadmill" of life.
Customer Reviews:
images of God too idiosyncratic not to be real, gorgeous........1999-08-07
At fifteen, when I found this book, it changed my life. I did not know then about women's spirituality movements. I have since become aquainted, thrilled, disenchanted, and reaquainted. Through it all this book has been a touchstone. Craighead tells stories and images of God which are too idiosyncratic to have been manufactured to cater to a faddish movement. They are images of a journey, honestley, skillfully, and beautifully wrought, and I would reccomend them to any seeker of God. Craighead wrote that her belief in God the Mother flows like a river beneath her (other? churched) Christianity, nourishing it. This is a powerful image of how one's personal experience of God, and the communal, ritualized expression of that experience need not be reconciled, but can both be cherished. Buy this book. Buy this book for your thirteen year old, who is searching. Buy it at your local independant bookstore. Ciao.
This is a book of beautiful and moving paintings and text.......1999-05-21
This book reproduces 41 paintings in full color, full page with white borders. It also includes a black and white photo of the artist on the back cover. The text is by the artist and provides insight in into the paintings' meanings, both personal and on a universal level. In the form of prose-poems, the ideas expressed are full of touching memories especially those of the artist's grandmother. The paintings are full of female imagery, multi-cultural Goddess symbols, and also Roman Catholic imagery. It is a wonderful book for lovers of the Goddess (or God the Mother) but it is not for the Christian weary. The paper cover is a little flimsy for a book of this size, but the wealth of color reproductions make this book a good value.
Wonderful.......1998-03-05
I found the paintings to be very inspirational. They are very earthy and feminine. I also liked the accompanying poems.
Book Description
The bestselling author of A Woman After God’s Own Heart
® (more than 700,000 copies sold) has a brand–new release! Elizabeth George’s A Mother After God’s Own Heart offers 10 principles to help moms make God an everyday part of their children’s lives. Readers will explore how to...
- teach their children God’s Word
- train them in God’s ways
- talk to children about Jesus
- pray with and for them
Elizabeth, who has two grown children and six grandchildren, gives practical advice and real–life suggestions for helping children—no matter what their ages—incorporate God into daily life. Elizabeth’s husband, Jim, also provides biblical advice from a dad’s perspective.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book!.......2007-09-27
I am so glad that I purchased this book for myself. It has changed my way of seeing motherhood for the better. Elizabeth teaches on the important job that we have as mothers in areas that we never thought before. No matter what stage you are in as a mom; this book will be encourage you, teach you, and inspire you in your journey!
Excellent Biblical Wisdom.......2006-03-16
As with all of Elizabeth George's books, A Mom After God's Own Heart is a solid, practical, and very BIBLICAL look at what it means to be a woman who seeks the Lord. This book is filled with excellent application for a mother's day to day life, yet succeeds in dealing with "heart issues" rather than just being a "to-do list." I was encouraged and inspired by this read.
Book Description
Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God is a devotional aimed at the deeper issues of the heart and one that will provide a soothing respite amid chaos. Think of it as Oswald Chambers meets Busy Housewife.
Writer, speaker, and stay–at–home mom Mary DeMuth creatively focuses on the gift of motherhood as she considers
- resting quietly in the Lord, even on crazy–busy days
- being thankful for the duties as well as the joys of being a mom
- offering God a heart to prune so that it can continue to bear good fruit
Personal stories integrated with scriptural truth and probing prayers will help everyday stay–at–home moms remain connected to the most amazing and extraordinary Parent of all parents.
Customer Reviews:
Looking for a book that encourages and challenges you?.......2007-08-24
This book has made a huge difference in my outlook. It gives me encouraging words to think about the entire day as I embark on the challenge to be the best mom, wife and person I can be. I highly recommend it!
Pass It On.......2007-06-23
When I first read this book as a young Christian, I found it convicting and encouraging in a way that truly challenged me to call upon the Lord to transform me into the mom He had called me to be. I was very touched by the honesty with which Mary DeMuth writes with. She sincerely shares her struggles as a mom and how she finds strength in the Lord to fulfill this blessed calling. I was really able to relate to her and found myself nodding my head again and again as I recalled very similar situations with my own children.
I found this book to be such an encouragement and such a challenge to be a better mom (through Christ who strengthens me) that I wanted to share it with other moms. Now, my friend and I have begun a Mom's Helping Mom's ministry, in which we get together with other young moms and we all use Mary DeMuth's book as a devotional at our meetings to discuss the issues relating to being a mom and to encourage each other as we fulfill this high calling and find strength in the Lord to raise these precious gifts that He has blessed us with in a way that glorifies His name.
I highly recommend Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God...and I recommend that once you read it - you don't hold on to it - but pass it on to another mom that you know will be touched by it!
Thank You Mary!.......2007-04-08
There's nothing ordinary about this book! I truly LOVED reading it! I just bought it a couple of weeks ago and have already ordered two more copies to give as gifts. It's just too good not to share. Mary speaks from the heart with humor and passion as she shares her real-life experiences in raising her family under the guidance and grace of God. As a mother of two young children, I will undoubtedly turn to Mary's encouraging and inspirational words again and again in the years to come.
short stories.......2007-01-23
I want to say (like all the other reviewers) that I too enjoyed this book. It is very reflective.
That being said, I wasn't expecting this layout of the book. It is many short stories or short reflections. I was somewhat expecting a "book" to read. I was surprised by this format. I wanted to specifically inform other portential buyers of that fact.
The Best I've Read.......2006-08-10
I'm a mom and a grandma so I've read a lot of books on motherhood and parenting. This is the most honest,practical, real-to-life encouragement I've come across yet! Mary DeMuth is an extraordinary author! Her 60 devotional writings tug at your heartstrings. Sometimes her personal stories make you want to cry. Other times you simply laugh out loud. This is a "must read" for anyone who wants a good dose of HOPE. And we ALL need that! I hadn't even finished the book before I ordered more for gifts.
Book Description
No woman alive today has inspired so many with her simplicity of faith and compassion so all-encompassing. As she daily embraces the "least of the least" in her arms, Mother Theresa challenges the whole world to greater acts of service and understanding in the name of love.
First published in 1971, this classic work introduced Mother Theresa to the Western World. As timely now as it was then, Something Beautiful for God interprets her life through the eyes of a modern-day skeptic who became literally transformed within her presence, describing her as "a light which could never be extinguised."
Customer Reviews:
malcolm on mother.......2007-01-18
Late in his adult life the renowned agnostic Malcolm Muggeridge converted to Christianity through the influence of Mother Teresa (1910-1997). In 1959 he interviewed Mother Teresa, and then ten years later made a television documentary of her life for the BBC. To honor her beatification in October 2003, Harper reissued the book version of these two efforts as a short, popular biography. Muggeridge reviews how Mother Teresa left her very satisfying call as a high school teacher and followed her "call within a call" to love the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. Under her direction, and convinced that every person should be able to die within sight of a loving face, no person was ever refused. Today, the Missionaries of Charity which she founded have houses in almost every country of the world. Evocative black and white photos accompany Muggeridge's powerful story-telling.
This book is truly beautiful.......2004-07-13
This book is expressly concerned with the work Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity do together in Calcutta and elsewhere for the poorest of the poor, written by a man who worked for many years in the same city and who much admired her work. It is full of anecdotes about her life and work and provides a pretty good summary of the major events. We know Mother Teresa for the great love that she poured out on the poor but at the very heart of all she did was her great love for God. "Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" was one of her favorite sayings. Yet Muggeridge had never met anyone less sentimental, less scatty, more down-to-earth. Mother Teresa took a very practical view of money as her needs grew. When the Pope visited India he presented her with his white ceremonial motor car but she never so much as took a ride in it, organizing a raffle and raising enough money to start her leper colony.
The author tells us that while teaching Mother Teresa received her call within a call - to work with the poorest of the poor rather than in her Loreto school convent with its pleasant garden, eager schoolgirls, congenial colleagues and rewarding work. When her release came, she stepped out with a few rupees in her pocket, made her way to the poorest, wretchedest part of the city, found a lodging there, gathered together a few abandoned children and began her ministry of love. To choose, as Mother Teresa did, to live in the slums of Calcutta, amidst all the dirt, disease and misery, signified a spirit so indomitable, a faith so intractable, a love so abounding, that the writer felt abashed.
Following the instructions of her Lord, Mother Teresa regarded every derelict left to die in the streets as Him; she heard every cry of abandoned children, even the tiny squeak of the discarded foetus, as the cry of the Bethlehem child; she recognized in every Leper's stumps the hands which once touched sightless eyes and made them see. What the poor needed, Mother Teresa was fond of saying, even more than food and clothing and shelter (though they need these, too, and desperately) is to be wanted. It is the outcast state their poverty imposes upon them that is the most agonizing. She had a place in her heart for them all. To her, they were all children of God, for whom Christ died. The author never experienced so perfect a sense of human equality as with Mother Teresa among her poor. Her love for them made them equal, as brothers and sisters within a family are equal. This is the only equality there is on earth, and it cannot be embodied in laws, enforced by coercion, or promoted by protest and upheaval, deriving, as it does, from God's love, which, like the rain from heaven, falls on the just and the unjust, on the rich and poor, alike. The nuns all eat the same food, wear the same clothes, and possess as little as their clients - the poorest of the poor. The nuns are not permitted to have a fan or any other mitigations of life in Bengal's sweltering heat. Even at prayers, the clamor and discordance of the street outside intrude, lest they should forget why they are there and where they belong.
Critics point out that statistically speaking Mother Teresa and the sisters achieved little but in Muggeridge's view Christianity is not a statistical view of life. Welfare is for a purpose while love is for a person. The one is about numbers while the other is about a person who is also God. The God Mother Teresa worships cannot see a sparrow fall to the ground without concern.
I found Malcom Muggeridge's portrayal of Mother Teresa penetrating, very helpful and in a small volume you receive a good idea of the woman who may well be recognized as a saint during our lifetime. Sadly, some of our churches appeal to only a small congregation; for someone concerned with why their message is not getting over as effectively as they might wish, there could be no better way than studying this book and learning more about Mother Teresa's way of expressing love.
This book is truly something beautiful
The Beauty of God in a Nun.......2004-05-15
Among the hundreds of books written on Mother Teresa and her ministry, this is one of the earliest and the best. It has the very words of Mother Teresa with regard to her life, vocation and apostolate. The photographs and interviews included in the book make the portrayal of this nun and her work almost complete. Making a TV program about her and writing this book, were life-changing experiences for Malcolm Muggeridge. For someone planning to learn about Mother Teresa this may be the book to begin with.
Muggeridge's Mother Teresa: real or myth?.......2004-02-14
Malcolm Muggeridge did indeed introduce Mother Teresa to the Western World as the book description said. Subsequently her name recognition is greater than Muggeridge's nowadays. Thus people might not have an idea of what a nasty person Muggeridge was. This makes people who know Muggeridge obviously skeptical of people he presents as saintly. Christopher Hitchens book about Mother Teresa, "The Missionary Position" gives you another view of Mother Teresa.
If you want to read about a truly holy Catholic who cared for the poor, read the book "Oscar Romero", about Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was made a martyr at the altar while saying mass in El Salvador.
Truly Beautiful.......2002-05-11
This really isn't a biography of Mother Teresa so much as it is a document in reflection on one man's encounters with her. Mother Teresa is such a dynamic and profound personality, indeed so much a reflection of her Savior, that just meeting her has inspired much reflection, conviction, and devotion in the mind and heart of Malcolm Muggeridge. She is that rare persona who somehow ascends past celebrity status. Celebrities, in the end, are entertainment. Mother Teresa's presence and personality are much more than entertainment: with hardly a word she challenges and changes people. The best parts of this book have more to do with Muggeridge's inner searching than with Teresa's life and work.
I'm sure that she would shy away from all this praise. Yet truly she is a reflection of her Savior, which is her heart's desire. This strange and unearthly power she has to affect lives with nothing more than her presence perhaps can help us understand how an illiterate carpenter from the backwaters of the world managed to split history in half and utterly turn the world upside down. When you draw near to God, even just a reflection of Him, you cannot help but be changed.
What I love most about Mother Teresa, what inspires and challenges me the most, is her ability, maybe even insistence, in seeing Christ in the poor and destitute that she cared for. He said `whatsoever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me' and she takes it seriously -- and the result is beautiful beyond comparison. It makes my heart leap.
Thank you, Lord, for sending us a woman like your servant Teresa to remind us of your face, your call, and your love. We are eternally grateful.
Books:
- For Everything a Season: Simple Musings on Living Well
- Getting to Commitment: Overcoming the 8 Greatest Obstacles to Lasting Connection (And Finding the Courage to Love)
- Godless: The Church of Liberalism
- Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature
- Hands Are Not for Hitting
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Think and Grow Rich
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- A Flora of Southern California
- The Formation of a Labour Market in Russia
- Welcome to Our Company: Your Office Manual
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General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
The Mystical Life of Jesus: An Uncommon Perspective on the Life of Christ
Spiritual Connections: How to Find Spirituality Throughout All the Relationships in Your Life
Christmas in Heaven
Exploring the Levels of Creation
Mother God
