Sue Monk Kidd - From Baptist To Mystic Contemplative
"[Sue] Monk Kidd's spirituality is spelled out clearly in her book, When the Heart Waits. She explains: There's a bulb of truth buried in the human soul [everyone] that's only God ... the soul is more than something to win or save. It's the seat and repository of the inner Divine, the God-image, the truest part of us"—Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing, 2nd ed., p. 134
How Did Sue Monk Kidd Go From Baptist Sunday School Teacher to a Universalist?
[A]Sunday school co-worker handed her [Monk Kidd] a book by Thomas Merton telling her she needed to read it. Once Monk Kidd read it, her life changed dramatically. What happened next completely reoriented Sue Monk Kidd's worldview and belief system. She started down the contemplative prayer road with bliss, reading numerous books and repeating the sacred word methods taught in her readings.
She ultimately came to the mystical realization that: "I am speaking of recognizing the hidden truth that we are one with all people. We are part of them and they are part of us … When we encounter another person, …we should walk as if we were upon holy ground. We should respond as if God dwells there." from A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen, p. 134
"In Radical Optimism, Beatrice Bruteau sets forth a deep and shining vision of spirituality, one that guides the reader into the contemplative life and the very root of our being. Dr. Bruteau is a philosopher of great measure whose work should be required reading for all who seek the deepest truth about themselves." —Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees (see Brennan Manning and his remarks about Beatrice Bruteau in A Time of Departing)
Sue Monk Kidd, Contemplative Spirituality and the Feminine Divine
From Her Website:"Her first book was a spiritual memoir describing her advent into contemplative Christian spirituality: God's Joyful Surprise ... Her second book, When the Heart Waits ... revealed a deepening of Sue's voice. Rooted in contemplative spirituality, the memoir recounts her intense and vivid spiritual transformation.
"Her most powerful awakening, however, still lay ahead of her ... Sue's explorations and study took an unexpected turn into feminist theology. The result was The Dance of the Dissident Daughter."
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter"Sue Monk was a "conventionally religious, churchgoing woman, a traditional wife and mother" with a thriving career as a Christian writer until she began to question her role as a woman in her culture, her family, and her church. From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore to monastery retreats and rituals in the caves of Crete, Kidd takes readers through the fear, anger, healing, and transformation of her awakening."—From the Back Cover