She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse, by Elizabeth Johnson (Crossroad/Herder & Herder). After 25 years of looking at life through a feminist lens but without much focus, I recently made a commitment to do some theological homework. Elizabeth Johnson’s classic She Who Is lifted my spirit and rekindled a fire that I have been enjoying and celebrating since. It was reasonable, passionate, profound, thought-provoking, challenging, and hopeful. I immediately gave copies to my three daughters and a dear friend!
Wisdom Ways: Introducing Feminist Biblical Interpretation, by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (Orbis). Schüssler Fiorenza accompanies the reader in a creative process of discovery, sharing the skills of "circle dancing" that welcome "Wisdom at work." She makes a series of complex hermeneutical moves into a delightful dance that opens the soul to a biblical interpretation that is nourishing and liberating.
Sonderling: The Franz Jaegerstatter Story, by James F. Sinnott, MM (Blackstone Audio Books). A recent long road trip was made much more palatable by an unabridged audio-book version of Maryknoll Father Jim Sinnott’s Sonderling, an excellent biography of Franz Jaegerstatter, a Catholic conscientious objector in Austria during Hitler’s occupation. The story was well told, making Jaegerstatter very accessible and thereby challenging to all of us who think ourselves excused from heroism by our ordinariness.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Uni/Mercury Nashville). As a longtime lover of bluegrass, I have thoroughly enjoyed the score from O Brother, Where Art Thou? It is deep and wide and delightful—from mountain music to chain gang chants. Great!
Marie Dennis, a Sojourners contributing editor, is director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns in Washington, D.C.
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