dance of the dissident daughter

i began reading the book of same title as above thinking that i might learn something about the role of women in the church, but i found something much different. i found a collection of prose only loosely connected to scripture written by a woman who missed the point. i muddled my way through the chapters on her journey to find the 'feminine divine,' scarcely controlling my desire to burn the book or cross out passages. but i couldn't--it's a library book.

when she was finally able to find her answers, i was actually able to agree with something she said. she spoke about the essence of God not as merely other or transcendent, but also close and relational. the question is begged--why did it take so much jungian analysis, feminist research, and participation in mystical women-celebration to get to that point?

unfortunately, the author is still lost, despite her years in the southern baptist church. i think she's a victim of the 'christian culture' of the south, that sometimes empties the gospel of its wholeness. i weep for this woman. she works so hard to make faith complicated and non-traditional and eschews the simplicity of a God-man who died in the place of all. she forgets the glory of the resurrection in favor of the god of self. she shapes god in her own image in an attempt to cure centuries of cruelty to women. that injustice is not the fault of God, but growing out of the sin of man- (and woman-) kind.

i'm not sure if i can say what i learned since i'm not quite finished yet. i can say i'm thankful for a few things: i'm thankful that i can take what any author writes and pour it through the sieve of scripture. i'm thankful for a mind given by God to do that. i'm thankful for freedom from restriction (religious or governmental), so that i was able to even read that book.