Dance of the Dissident Daughter – Sue Monk Kidd

Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd

I have loved this book for a very long time. It is an autobiographical account of her search for female spirituality and a feminine side of God. She goes through a lot, like of leaving and joining a number of churches, how it affected her marriage, a number of things like this. It helped me realize that knowing there is a Heavenly Mother makes me stronger and better as a woman, but it also makes me sad that the church doesn’t talk about Her. There are so many people who I think would embrace the Gospel through the LDS church if we were open about Her. I’ve done a lot of research on why and found that it was a seminary teacher in the 60s that suggested it was to “protect” Her, but I don’t by that as a good reason. What kind of a man “protects” a mother by forbidding her children from knowing her or from even openly acknowledging her existence. I’d leave my husband in a heart beat and take the kids with me if he tried. This forced disregard of Her is a huge spiritual thorn for me, but this book gave me the freedom to seek Her on my own. I wanted to share it with others – men and women! I think if we asked about Her more our Father would gladly tell us about Her. I hope it helps someone.

Please read the whole thing – it’s a journey with some ugly moments as well as great ones. Also, if anyone has recommendations that deal with Heavenly Mother or feminine spirituality (not Feminist/angry) or spiritually journeys – that would be great.