Spiritual Lemons: Biblical Women, Irreverent Laughter, and Righteous Rage

by Lyn Brakeman

Overview

Putting body and bones to the biblical stories, Brakeman explores the passions of biblical women, such as Sarah's laughter, Jephthah's daughter's anger, and Martha's envy. Each of the eight chapters probes what these women might have felt and encourages women to name and claim their feelings. Includes suggestions for personal prayer and meditation, and ideas for group exercises.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780806690155
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	06/03/2004
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.33(d)

About the Author

The Rev. Lyn G. Brakeman is an Episcopal priest, Pastoral Counselor and Spiritual Director with a practice in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Lyn also serves as Priest Associate at St. John's Episcopal Church in Gloucester, where her marriage partner, Dick Simeone, is the rector. She is a mentor for the Education for Ministry (EFM) program, retreat and workshop leader, a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, and an Associate of the Religious Sisters of Mercy.

Editorial Reviews

Episcopalian pastor Brakeman describes her study as the "underbelly" of spirituality. She focuses on the scandals of scripture, those stories about women and the dark side of human nature (anger, envy, shame, possessiveness, powerlessness, beggary, death). Brakeman writes to women, especially, to encourage them to love as God loves this dark side of themselves. She probes eight selected biblical texts, including the stories of Sarah, Jephthah's daughter and Susannah, connecting the tales to the lives of contemporary women. Each section opens with a biblical text, followed by a question derived from that text. The question is answered by a retelling of the biblical story and by Brakeman's commentary on the story. The book closes with personal prayer and meditation guidelines, as well as suggested group rituals for each section of the book. Brakeman's book is full of creative insights that will deeply reward all those who traverse its pages. (Jan.)

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