A question was raised about our upcoming selection Richard Rohr’s From Wild Man to Wise Man: Reflection on Male Spirituality…is this book only for men? The short answer is “no”. It is inclusive to all, and I encourage you to come, regardless of gender. Join our lively bunch at 10 am, each Tuesday, in the South Room.
Now, the more in-depth answer is this…
In Rohr’s own words, there is no such thing as male spirituality, just spirituality. Thus a discussion on so-called “male spirituality” is not exclusive and is, in fact, an approach many women are more in touch with today than men.
Rohr comments:
Women have been long encouraged and even forced to work on their inner lives more than men in our culture… In general, women are ahead of men in recognizing the so-called “feminine” and “masculine” parts of themselves. Their inner journeys and outer scholarship have left many of us men in the dust. Our sisters’ pursuit of the feminine voice has made men aware that there must be an authentic masculine somewhere. But what is it? We know instinctively that masculinity cannot be the same as patriarchy (From Wild Man to Wise Man, pp. 7-8).
The rationale for this selection perfectly fits the theme of this semester. It’s about understanding and learning from views outside our own (in this case, our culture’s whole male vs. female paradigm). It’s about learning more about ourselves by looking through the prism of the Other.
So, yes, if you are a man or woman of some level of faith, this book discussion is definitely for you.
Here’s our proposed reading schedule for Rohr:
October 9: Chapters one to five
October 16: Chapters six to ten
October 23: Chapters eleven to fifteen
October 30: Chapters sixteen to twenty
November 6: Chapters sixteen to twenty
