Difficult Work Rooted in Faith
Recommended Books by Sister Clare Wagner, OP (Marie Clarence)
Sr. Clare Wagner
One way to think of the Spirit is Holy Presence on the move. It is the Spirit’s nature to renew, restore, prompt, nudge, until some life-giving change occurs, until transformation happens. The Spirit is arriving always—breathing fire, blowing sacred wind; our part is to notice, to cooperate, and, perhaps, to cocreate. The three books I want to recommend were, I believe, born in response to the Spirit’s prompting and gift us with insights that have transforming power. In Quest for the Living God, Elizabeth Johnson writes that “insights into the living God are flaring forth in our day.” She takes hold of what is flaring forth and what has emerged historically about the Mystery we call God. In his book, Reconciliation, Robert Morneau looks anew at the sacrament of reconciliation. The self awareness and the beauty of God’s mercy are well described as essentials in the process of personal transformation. In The Faith Club, three women from New York come together to write a children’s book about God and find themselves blown away by where the Spirit takes them. They share in first-person accounts the amazing transforming grace they experienced. We cannot settle for less. These books invite us to join the exploration into God prompted not only by the times in which we live—but also by the transforming presence and power of the Spirit of God.
Elizabeth A. Johnson. Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God. New York: Continuum, 2007.
In Elizabeth Johnson’s unique way of speaking “theology talk” in a very understandable—and even poetic—tone, she offers this book with the intent of expanding our understanding of the Loving Mystery who is God. At the beginning of the book, she emphasizes the hidden and awesome character of Holy Mystery which provides a necessary and very important backdrop for any exploration into God. It protects against any possibility of thinking that one idea about or name for God is the one and only. After that, the author traces the development of how people perceived God through the centuries. Next come a series of chapters presenting discrete ideas of God and the “symphony of symbols” which have emerged. Favorite titles of mine among these chapters are “God Acting Womanish” and “God Who Breaks Chains.” While the titles may sound frivolous, those chapters on women’s experiences of God and slaves’ experiences of God are substantive, inspiring, and, I might add, transforming. In the “Epilogue,” Elizabeth Johnson writes words that evidence the ongoing work of the Spirit and the evolutionary nature of spirituality. “The quest continues. It will do so as long as the unfathomable mystery of the living God calls human beings into the future, promised but unknown, which is to say, as long as people exist” (p. 227).
Robert Morneau. Reconciliation. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2007.
This book is very much unlike a catechism teaching on the sacrament of reconciliation; moved by the Spirit, Robert Morneau presents a new vision of reconciliation. He writes that, “Reconciliation is the story of God’s healing presence in human history” (p. 80). Early in the book is a poem by Jessica Powers called “The Mercy of God.” Though the author sticks to one image of God, there are beautiful prayers sprinkled throughout the book. Sin is treated in a matter-of-fact way. There are sections on the sacraments, and the last three chapters are unique and engaging. They are entitled “Sacrament of Reconciliation” which invites an examination of conscience using the fruits of the Holy Spirit, a question-and-answer chapter, and one he calls “Reconciliation: A Poetic Perspective.” That chapter presents a number of poems on the topic which are written by the author and which, he says, “. . . might begin the work of transformation in our personal and collective lives” (p. 111). It makes me smile to think about examining my conscience on love, joy, peace, gentleness—how challenging! This book would be excellent for adults in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process. Thank you to the cocreation of Robert Morneau and the Spirit of God!
Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner. The Faith Club. New York: Free Press, 2006.
Two women, a Muslim and a Christian, met at a bus stop where they brought their children each morning to get the school bus. Out of their conversations grew a decision to write a children’s book about God, since Christians, Muslims, and Jews are from the Abrahamic tradition and all believe in one God. They needed to find a Jewish woman, which they did. They found, however, that they could not write the book. First, they needed to learn thoroughly what faith meant to each of them. Along came the transforming Spirit of God and the women began a spiritual journey together. The Faith Club documents their experience of a challenging and bonding journey toward understanding. In the book, each woman writes about her experience of their club time together and of what is happening to her personally. This is not a book by professional theologians; rather it documents the faith development and experience of three sincere seekers. Their book process was dialogic interaction; the reason it worked was the women’s tremendous respect for one another and a growing trust. In the book, they tell readers how to develop a book club. This book is an interfaith adventure which testifies to how much we all have to learn about seeing God and one another with new eyes.
© Sinsinawa Dominicans 2008
