by Isabel Anders
"As it is written, 'Our God is a consuming fire' (Heb. 12:29); so we also must kindle the divine fire in ourselves through tears and hard work." -Amma Syncletica, fourth century. What could be more natural and timely than ... Spiritual wisdom drawn from a woman's world; word paintings expressed in the poetry of mother-daughter dialogue? Home and hearth lessons in eternal truth, firmly grounded in day-to-day experience? Small scenarios of inquiry and response, deep questioning and fledgling faith, that reverberate with quiet insight? Dialogues that reflect modern levels of questioning; knots of paradox that require a woman's patient attention and inner care to tease out true, gentle wisdom? A poetic exploration of the large and the small issues of women's life-nested, braided, interwoven, never fully unraveled-in precise language that retains the mystery but awakens the soul? Enter into the world of Becoming Flame: Uncommon Mother-Daughter Wisdom Dialogues with questions at the end for individual and group study. Endorsements: "Significant . . . fine work. Original and profound." -Diane Moore, author of Sophie's Sojourn in Persia and The Holy Present. "I like [Isabel's] mixture of profundity and populism-her sense of addressing something accessible but without leaving behind the most serious paradoxes." -Richard Grossinger, author of On the Integration of Nature. "What is here is the eternal feminine in its most sacred presentations; and all people, regardless of gender, yearn to know and be embraced by that hallowed fullness."