Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics | Carol L. Flinders

Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics | Carol L. Flinders | Great Introduction to Women Mystics

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Enduring Grace: Li...

	Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics Carol L. Flinders HarperOne, 1993 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Astonishingly relevant portraits of the lives of seven women mystics

Known to more than a million readers as the coauthor of the classic vegetarian cookbook Laurel's Kitchen, Carol Lee Flinders looks to the hunger of the spirit in Enduring Grace. In these striking and sustaining depictions of seven remarkable women, Flinders brings to life a chorus of wisdom from the past that speaks with remarkable relevance to our contemporary spiritual quests.

From Clare of Assisi in the Middle East to Thérèse of Lisieux in the late nineteenth century, Flinders's compelling and refreshingly informal portraits reveal a common foundation of conviction, courage, and serenity in the lives of these great European Catholic mystics. Their distinctly female voices enrich their writings on the experience of the inner world, the nourishing role of friendship and community in our lives, and on finding our true work.

At its heart, Enduring Grace is a living testament to how we can make peace with sorrow and disappointment and bring joy and transcendence into our lives.

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Never The Same Again Because Of This Masterpiece

I will admit to getting upset when any book of this caliber seems somehow to lose ground so to speak. It is one of the few books among thousands out there that has the capacity to transform your perspective of yourself and the world not to omit your faith in God. Too many books on the subject of Beloved Saints seem to only focus on their masterful greatness to which I could never relate on any level [as a woman being so terribly flawed (yet devoted to my faith of Catholicism)]. This book ever so eloquently and exquisitely reads like a dream and shows how these spectacularly popular Saints had trials and troubles aplenty within-and-without as mortals just like you and me. My favorite cameo is of one Saint who regretted that: she could not bring good will to good works....This is a stunner of a book. A classic for all time. Thank you, Carol Lee Flinders. I believe I am a-little-bit-better of a person - because of your book.

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Great Introduction to Women Mystics

Flinders is very articulate and captures well the lives of these women mystics. She balances their lives well with sections of and explanations of their writings. Scholarly, but easy to read, this book leaves the reader with many thoughts for reflection. It is easy to take away insights into a spirituality that can be applied in the 21st century.

I keep thinking about what I've read in this book

I will start by saying that, although I was raised a Christian, I am not one now. So I approached this book with some caution. However, it is well written and makes the medieval world that these women dealt with very vivid. It also makes what they did and wrote very accessible. I have found a lot to think about in this book and it made me want to learn more about some of the things discussed. That said, it is not a book to sit down and read all at one go. I read it a bit at a time, taking it on trips with me and keeping it in the kitchen between times. It was well worth the thought I had to put into the reading.

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pros and possibly cons

as a quick glance at the other reviews will demonstrate, this book can elicit widely varying responses from readers. why so much disagreement among reviewers? i can't say for certain, but here's my guess.

on the plus side, this is a short and informal introduction to seven brilliant female mystics of the middle ages. there are few books that bring together the lives of such compelling and powerful women under one cover, as any one of them can--and have--form the basis for a detailed individual biography. in fact, at least one of my stars reflects the importance of and accessibility to these phenomenal mystics. it is clear that the author deeply (and rightly) respects and admires each of these magnificent women, and has done a good deal of homework in learning about their lives and times. she writes with an amiable voice and attempts to give a flavor of the process involved in historical research.

on the not-so-plus side (or is it?), the author is not a scholar of either medieval history or feminist theory, though these are the main scholarly fields from which she attempts to draw a picture of her subjects. if you enjoy a more casual approach to learning about people in history, you may group this point with the pluses. although the chapters are not overlengthy (the whole text itself is not much more than 200 pages), there is less organization and more meandering than is the norm in biography. again, this informal arrangement may be a plus for some readers, a no-no for others. although there is not a great deal of fresh insight concerning the lives of these remarkable mystics, and not a wide sampling of their writing, you do get an initial taste (this is meant to be an introduction, after all). the writing style is not the most inspired or graceful (and sometimes the author's intended use of vocabulary seems to get away from her), but some readers may prefer a more plain approach. one more significant con: there are, as another reviewer noted, plenty of generic feminist ideas sprinkled about. while an informed and involved feminist view would be fitting in this context, here there appears not to be much independent reflection behind the statements, and so they add little of import and at times feel a bit tacked on.

in a nutshell, this is a congenial, but not profound, book about truly life-altering women, which can make a big impact on those seeking concise portraits and who prefer a less formal and scholarly approach. if this is what you seek, you may feel like a well-informed and intelligent friend dropped in to chat with you about some truly great people. on the other hand, this is not the book for those who seek revelatory insights into the mystics, masterful writing, or a practical framework for bringing a mystical understanding into one's life. if this is what you seek, you may feel instead like you are reading a book report by an enthused, diligent, and well-intentioned friend. (for those who would like to incorporate selections of women mystics' writings into a spiritual practice, Mary Penrose's "Refreshing Water from Ancient Wells: The Wisdom of Women Mystics" is one good starting point).

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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