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If women had been scribes in the ancient cities of Jerusalem, Mecca, and Antioch, we would probably know a lot more about the women of our religious traditions.
Women played key roles in the development of each of the Abrahamic faiths - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - from their very beginnings.
Daughters of the Desert - ideal for readers of all ages - breathes new life into the old tales of our female ancestors in faith.
Co-authors: Claire Rudolf Murphy, Mary Cronk Farrell, Sarah Conover, Betsy Wharton, and Meghan Nuttall Sayres
Set in the Holy Lands, Daughters of the Desert, is about ancient women - daring, thoughtful, and wise - who played exciting roles in the early days of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Most of the women included in this collection are descendants of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. The stories highlight women in crucial moments or circumstances of their lives, which in many cases mark pivotal points in their respective religions.
Daughters became a spiritual adventure for its authors. Their research, conversations, and meditations pushed them beyond the Christian traditions in which they were raised; enlarged and enriched their views of the different faiths they explored.
Excerpts from the Book
Woman to Woman (Mary of Nazareth)
“Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, ‘Most blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’”
- Christian Bible, Luke 1:41-42
“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” Mary whispered as she walked along the dusty road. Ever since that morning two weeks ago, those words had been emblazoned on her heart.
She paused to breath in the warm spring air and gazed in gratitude at the cultivated fields and vineyards that once more dotted the land. For eighty miles the caravan had trudged by dry, sun-burned hills. Finally, the Holy City beckoned. Mary and her fellow travelers from Nazareth were tired from nearly four days of walking. But as they spotted the tall buildings of Jerusalem, their steps quickened. Mary ran to keep up with her friends.
She knew the crowded streets, hugs from relatives, and aroma of spices in the marketplace would soon invigorate her blood. Right now, however, something else coursed through her veins.
Ruth and Abigail waved at her to come along. “Isn’t it exciting?” Ruth called out. “Will we see you in Jerusalem or will you take all your Passover meals with your betrothed, Joseph?” Ruth and Abigail laughed and waved her to come along. Her friends’ laughter swirled around the thoughts in Mary’s whirling mind. She stopped and squinted her eyes. In the midday sun, the Temple looked hazy, like a mirage in the desert. She knew the Temple was real. But perhaps the angel had been a mirage. Maybe she was not carrying a child. Maybe her elderly cousin Elizabeth was not with child, either.
How was she to know? Her mind flashed back to that morning when the Angel Gabriel appeared. “Greetings, Favored One,” he had said. Mary couldn’t believe her eyes. An angel encircled in glowing light stood before her.
This poem inspired Claire while she was writing the story of Mary.
Mary’s Hiding
Before these possessions you love slip away, say what
Mary said when she was
surprised by Gabriel, I’ll hide inside God. Naked in
her room she was a form
of beauty that could give her new life. Like the sun
coming up, or a rose as it
opens. She leaped, as her habit was, out of herself
into the divine presence.
There was fire in the channel of her breath. Light and majesty
came. I am smoke
from that fire and proof of its existence, more than
any external form.
- Rumi, Sufi poet
Esther: Return to Hadassah
“Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will escape with your life by being in the king’s palace ... And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.”
- Hebrew Scriptures, Esther 4:13-14
Esther stared in the mirror at the coiffed hair piled high on her head and crowned with a diadem of rubies and sapphires. Oil of myrrh, jars of the best perfumes and spices, and royal gowns awaited her pleasure. As the chosen queen of King Ahasuerus, for five years her every desire had been fulfilled. Except one.
She yearned to return to her youth, when her days were filled with her friends’ laughter, walks with her mother, visits to the Shushan synagogue with her father. When she was known as the lovely Hadassah, the Jewish girl with the smooth, copper skin and dark hair to her waist.
Removing the headpiece, Esther whispered to the mirror, “Only in the presence of the king will I wear this heavy crown.”
In her sitting room, she pulled away the curtain and stared out. Her Uncle Mordecai walked back and forth in front of the palace. Every day he stood guard, one of the king's protectors. Esther knew her uncle came every day to watch out for her. How she longed to talk to the man who had
been her guardian since her parents died of fever. At the palace everyone knew that Mordecai was Jewish, but they had no idea that Esther was also, or that she and Mordecai were related.
Five years ago the king had commanded all young maidens to appear at the palace because he wanted to choose the most beautiful woman in all of Persia to be his new bride. Mordecai knew that having a Jewish woman so close to the seat of power could help - even save - his people. But he also knew that King Ahasuerus would never marry a Jewess, no matter how captivating.
So he had counseled his niece, “From this day on, you will be known as Esther,” Mordecai took her hand and placed it on her heart. “Hadassah can only live here now. If the king chooses you, you will be able to do great things for your people.”
Hadassah took a deep breath and smiled. “I’ll do my best, Uncle.”
End of Excerpts
Praise for Daughters of the Desert
"A recovery of the wisdom of women in the great Abrahamic religions is long overdue. Daughters of the Desert is a knock-out contribution to that project. Read the stories, fill your heart, share the wealth with others. This book deserves to become a classic of twenty-first century spiritual reading. Cherish it."
- Mitch Finley, author of Prayer for People Who Think Too Much and The Joy of Being Catholic.
"How refreshing to find the stories of women from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. They are like water in the desert offering new voices and new hope to our generation."
- Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, author of Cain & Abel: Finding the Fruits of Peace, and But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land.
"These engaging stories of women, some of whom are important to all three religions, and some known only to one, help build bridges of understanding between religions and demonstrate the importance of religion in our lives."
- Dr. Freda Crane, member, Islamic Society of North America.
"Some stories speak powerful narratives. Others point to new understandings of our world. Still others ask questions of justice, mercy, and devotion within communities. Daughters of the Desert speaks and points and questions in all three ways, with stories about women from three spiritual traditions. Their ancient journeys Jewish, Christian, and Muslim startlingly and wonderfully like our own, call us to and encourage us in our own paths to God."
- Gary Schmidt, author of Winter: The Spiritual Biography of the Season and William Bradford: Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim.
Daughters Book Group Guide
Skylight Paths Publishing
Meghan Nuttall Sayres
Mary Cronk Farrell |
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