If anyone thinks that I like any and all books that I read, here’s the review you’ve been waiting for: I did not like this book, period. I had high hopes that I would like it, but it never really worked for me.
My biggest and chief complaint is that Ms. Callahan makes the assertation that “Christians call God Our Mother because God, like a mother, gives us life and love – and also leaves us free to grow into our own strength” (p. 71). Uhm, which Christians? Maybe I’m running with the wrong crowd because I’ve heard that God is LIKE a mother, but never “Our Mother” and I surely have NEVER heard any public prayers addressed to “God Our Mother” like are found in the book. I prefer to stick with Our Lord and refer to God as Our Father. I’m with Fr. Serpa on this one:
“God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are pure spirit. God the Son took on human flesh as a man. He is our only way to the Father. He has revealed the Father not only as “Father,” but as “Abba” or “Daddy”. Why has Jesus revealed the Father as “Father”? Why has He revealed Him at all? Who are we to question God? We can surmise that God is spirit and therefore has no gender. However, God CONNOT be just as well spoken of as mother because He has revealed Himself as “Father”. Does not His prerogative matter more to us than our surmising?Our ontological understanding has no primacy in the face of Divine Revelation! Our ontological understanding is so minuscule in the face of the Author of all created being that in itself it is laughable. “Father” is not the gender distinction WE have applied to God; it is the gender distinction GOD has applied to Himself!”
(source)
I wish there were more citations in this book. Many times I was left wondering “is this a fact that I can look up or is this her opinion?”
There were some good things however, such as the entire chapter on Mothering (well, except for the God Our Mother business) and the chapter on Working (whether at home or not). I also wish she got a little more deep on her topics. Maybe omitting some of the topics and focusing deeper on Mothering and Love and Sexuality. As a woman, I know that woman’s approach to God is so different from that of a man, but I don’t want to read about ‘God Our Mother’ or just the surface of topics that are important to me. This book was what I feared – a light, airy survey of “women’s issues” without a real depth or substance to them. Ironically, I’ve found books on women’s spirituality written by men a lot more engaging and deep.
If I were to recommend this book, it’d be to people who are strong in their faith; who can take what’s good out of it and leave the rest. I think Ms. Callahan has a lot of good insights that she just isn’t sharing, or doesn’t want to flesh out. I wish she would have.
And drop the “God Our Mother” stuff.
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This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Creating New Life, Nurturing Families. I received nothing but a complementary copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion of the book.
