Return and Review

Sorry for the long absence. I'm afraid that I have simply been uninspired. Not sure why. I think I have simply been very engaged in real life. I have had some great days at work since the new year, and I have felt like the work I am doing actually matters and makes a difference in the life of the company. And I have been enjoying a lot of time with friends, like the trip to NYC last week, which is a story in itself. But even though real life has been good and meaningful, I am being told that I MUST sign up for facebook. Hmmm.... Maybe.... ;-

But I have been reading this fabulous book, Eve's Revenge, Women and a Spirituality of the Body. I first saw it at Ollie's and was intrigued but didn't buy it, but by luck or grace, it was still there when I went back again a month later and I am plowing through it. It is about living in a body, as simple as that. As the title suggests it is mainly for and about women, but the philosophy that our bodies aren't quite up there with our minds or souls is as old as the sun and has affected men and our culture over the century's just as much.

The other, most momentous thing about this book is that it has been the vehicle for me to post my first review on Amazon. In my job, I have learned that a positive review can make all the difference to a book, and I want to chime in for the ones that I think are really worthwhile. Especially new ones. There are so many books being published that a lot of good ones must but be lost in the fray. So when I find them, I want them to know. So here is my review, as it now appears on Amazon.

I am highly impressed by this book's treatment of the current predicament of women in western culture. But even more, I am surprised at the heart of this book, the revelation of how much our bodies truly effect "who we really are". The topic of bodies is not uncommon for women. We hear and see everywhere the newest exercise craze or most promising facial scrub. But Barger reveals the idea that is so common and so subtle, that who we are inside our body, our soul, spirit, etc. is at odds with the physical body that we live in. We believe that in order to be and express who we really are we must thicken our lashes, pierce our lip, maybe even have surgery to change our gender.
Another facet of this book that has surprised me is the sheer number of ways our body affects who we are as women. It controls our gender and beauty certainly, but also our race, strength, emotions, energy, health, sexuality, and reproduction. All in one body.

I stood in the library several months before picking up this title, and read a page from a little book of meditations about the body, whose title and author I sadly cannot recall. It suggested that we love our body as our most faithful helper and friend, always at work for us. A body as something to care for and love. I think Barger would second this, but she has taken the book even a step farther, and reminds us that in the Christian faith, God decided to become a body too. He didn't manipulate it or struggle to be free of it, but freely chose to live in it as we do, even with it's pain, aging, and awkwardness. The very opposite of what many women, and probably men, would choose for themselves. I hope they find this book and read it.