CURRENTLY IN BOOKS

Reflections from solitude

IN THE WOMB OF GOD
CELESTE SNOWBER SCHROEDER. TRIUMPH BOOKS, LIGUORI, MI, 1995, 110 PP. In this book, Schroeder shares lessons learned in a time of enforced solitude. Her reflections begin during a period of prolonged bedrest when pregnant with twins. Her thinking is first shaped by the process of childbearing. She moves on to wonder at God's creativity in shaping us. The frustration of her idleness gives way to experiencing the presence of God.

Schroeder explores family, nature, self, feminine-ness and faith, and begins to see the "flickers of glory in the dust". She realizes that she has learned a lot about God through her children and through mothering. She becomes aware of God as a nurturer, One who has both maternal and paternal characteristics. She is filled with a new awareness of the meaningfulness of struggle, interruptions, loneliness and the mundane. In Schroeder's words, the book is about "seeing and hearing differently: That is what the presence of God does for us, and that is what my children do for me."

Despite what the title may suggest, In the Womb of God is not written with a feminist agenda. (The publisher, not the author, chose the title.) This is not a book that can be quickly read. It calls us to times of solitude and reflection, to times of listening and seeing in unexpected places.

JOY GEDDERT IS A MOTHER AND AN OBSTETRIC NURSE AND A MEMBER OF MOUNTAIN PARK COMMUNITY CHURCH IN ABBOTSFORD, B.C.

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