Carol Lee Flinders, Ph.D.
"At the Root of this Longing: Spiritual Hungers Meet Feminist Thirsts"
January 13-15, 2006
Charleston, SC

Something that feels very much like a women's movement is gathering momentum (circle on circle, closing in on a million!), and while it's aligned with movements of the past, it has its own character. Its vision is wider: its outlook is consistently global. Its proponents want their life choices to enhance the lives of women everywhere, and they are convinced that a world that is safe and welcoming for women is safe and welcoming for everyone else as well. They are alert to the connections between women's issues and environmental issues. They see a special role for women in peace work. Their work is grounded in spiritual practices and informed by spiritual perspectives.

It's a thrilling prospect that makes perfect sense to Carol Lee Flinders, who believes that the longing for depth, connection, and identity that fuels women's movements is just as truly a religious longing: "Feminism catches fire when it draws upon its inherent spirituality. But it's also true that a woman's religious path can bring her up hard against doors that feminist insight alone can unlock."

The relationship between feminism and spirituality is so layered and complex that it is best approached from several angles: from one's own life experience as well as that of women mystics, spiritual activists, and . . . men. Spiritual feminism doesn't stop with women, it asks, rather, how we all might move together into radiant wholeness.

If women are to bring forth a new paradigm, built on inclusiveness, mutuality, and reverence for nature, their inner work must be as sustained and systematic as their analysis and their activism. To that end, this workshop will offer a meditative practice that can be carried out in any religious tradition (or none), and that is an ideal foundation for spiritually informed activism.

Carol Lee Flinders is a national speaker, retreat leader, and author of Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics, Rebalancing the World, and one of our favorites, At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst . Dr. Flinders has taught courses in mystical literature at UC Berkeley, and at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She is currently a Fellow of the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University. In May 2006, Penguin/Putnam will publish her latest book, Enduring Lives: Living Portraits of Women and Faith in Action, which profiles contemporary women she believes live and work in the "spiritual mother-line" of Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Catherine of Genoa. She has written about natural foods, co-authoring the popular Laurel's Kitchen cookbooks. Carol lives in Northern California at the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation with her husband Tim.

Their website, www.tworock.org, offers more information about their work and vision.

Tuition: $195 by December 30; $250 after.

www.TheSophiaInstitute.org
843.722.4186
26 Society St and 297 East Bay St.
Charleston, SC 29401