Parent as Mystic, Mystic as Parent - Hardcover

Spangler, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573221066 ISBN 13: 9781573221061

Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover, 1998

Synopsis

Citing the spiritual aspects of parenthood, a father of four identifies the qualities of healthy parents that are needed to help raise creative, honest, and independent offspring. 22,500 first printing.

About this title

Review:

From the author of The Call comes an exquisite memoir on the mystical act of parenting. Although Spangler possesses numerous gifts as a writer and spiritual leader (he is a former coleader of Scotland's spiritual community Findhorn), his most meaningful life work has always taken place within the boundaries of marriage and parenthood (he is the father of four children). So it was only fitting that this self-described "freelance mystic" finally shed his wisdom and humor upon this sacred and mundane act. "We may think of mysticism as the dimension of complex issues of theology and spiritual cosmology, but it is really much simpler," explains Spangler. "It is, at heart, about learning how to recognize and work with the connectedness of the world, the wholeness of all things. Love is at its root, and love is equally at the root of what we do as parents. It is in the spirit of this common rootedness that the parent embodies the mystic and mystic the parent."

In sharing his parenting challenges (such as staying present in the presence of a flailing, crying baby or trying to honor a daughter's yearning to become a racehorse jockey), Spangler has packaged a book so tender and profound that parents cannot help but be inspired to bring their highest and most joyful selves to every interaction of parenthood. --Gail Hudson

From the Back Cover:

The words "parent" and "mystic" may seem an odd combination, but most parents will tell you that the birth of a child is spiritually significant -- in some way a mystical experience, a connection with the divine. There is a feeling of magic in the parent-child relationship that relies on intuition, total presence, and impulses that come from neither the mind nor the body -- impulses of the soul.

Full of down-and-dirty stories from life with his own four children, and charged with David Spangler's sharp wit and warm sensibility, Parent as Mystic, Mystic as Parent is a book about the ordinary -- the blessings of the day in and day out of child rearing. It's a captivating and inspiring guide for mothers and fathers in the trenches, trying to build strong, spiritually fulfilling families that work. A book that encourages us, with grace and humor, toward the kind of conscious parenting that brings the world creative, honest, independent kids.

About this edition

• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1573221066
• ISBN 13: 9781573221061
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 191