Sue Monk Kidd - From Baptist To Mystic Contemplative
Video of Sue Monk Kidd "The Black Madonna" (April 2005, Washington National Cathedral (small file)
"[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
Sue
Monk Kidd and David Jeremiah |
Why does David Jeremiah of Turning Point quote Sue Monk Kidd favorably in his book, Life Wide Open?
David Jeremiah's 2003 book, Life
Wide Open, has a subtitle of "Unleashing the Power
of a Passionate Life." In the introduction of the book, Jeremiah
tells readers that "A Small handful among us have discovered
what the rest of us would pay dearly to know:How can we bring
real, living excitement into this life?" Jeremiah goes on
to tell readers that "This book is a map to the life of passion
and purpose, the life wide open..."
Who are these small handful of people who have discovered
the secret? Well according to David Jeremiah's book, his list
includes Rick
Warren of the Purpose Driven Life, contemplative, feminine
spiritualist Sue
Monk Kidd ( When
the Heart Waits), contemplative Calvin Miller (Into
the Depths of God), Buddhist sympathizer Peter
Senge (The Fifth Discipline), emerging church leader,
Erwin McManus, contemplative Michael Card, Brother Lawrence
(Practicing the Presence of God), and mystic Jim Collins.
More on David Jeremiah
Click here to Read an Excerpt of A Time of Departing as Ray Yungen discusses the spirituality of Sue Monk Kidd.
