Musings on Sue Monk Kidd

Posted by Susy Flory on Jan 31st, 2007 | 2 comments home title

“… I sensed rebirth
as my heart opened wider toward the Divine Feminine presence.” –from Dance of the Dissident Daughter, by
Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees has been hugely popular with women, its story of
mothers lost and found, along with the promise of a great universal
mother/goddess, selling over four million copies so far. It’s been translated
into 23 languages and has owned a spot on the bestseller lists ever since its
release in 2003. Clearly, Kidd
has an important message that women are hungry
for, much like that sweet jar of honey on the cover, rich and glowing.

The wife of a Southern
Baptist pastor, Kidd began writing in her thirties. Always introspective, her
personal experience stories were infused with many layers of meaning, always to
be gently teased apart and examined by Kidd for clues to her primary question:
“Who am I?”

What she found, as she chronicled in her memoir Dance
of the Dissident Daughter, is that she was awakening to a whole new
identity which did not include Christianity, the church, or even, necessarily,
her husband. “My soul is my own,” Kidd proclaims, as she sets out on her
journey into the divine feminine, as she calls it. “In the end we will reinvent
not only ourselves, but also religion and spirituality as they have been handed
down to us.”

First, a quote from the author. In an introduction to a collection of essays called Firstlight, Kidd reveals that “a significant portion of my life can be understood as a spiritual quest.” While her early
writings were of children, home, garden, work, and the beauty and meaning she found, her more recent books speak of a great restlessness, an anger, and a search for spiritual truth which holds more meaning for women.

Kidd’s spiritual quest led her to reject Christ and embrace the goddess. Are other women following her lead? Hmmm….I’m intrigued by this tremendously talented writer and her spiritual journey, and by the impact she is making.

Musings on Sue Monk Kidd

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