The Rev. Dr. Pat Youngdahl was a church pastor for a decade until she came out as a lesbian. She remains a Presbyterian minister but now teaches writing and literary interpretation at the University of Arizona and leads retreats on feminist spirituality across the United States. The author starts out with this imaginative statement: "We are always and everywhere at our devotions. In some moments we are especially attentive to them. When we light a candle, kiss a photograph, scatter a handful of ashes, enter a voting booth, or whisper a prayer, it is easy to catch sight of ourselves enacting our beliefs and desires. But usually we are not so aware. We move through most ordinary hours without recognizing that here, too, or perhaps here even more, since indeed we are not watching so closely, we perform the devotions by which we make sense of the world and give body to what is happening in our hearts."
In this collection of what she calls "subversive devotions," Youngdahl looks at the various forms love can take that are both challenging and somewhat dangerous in an often hostile world of patriarchy and homophobia. She writes about her childhood, her experiences as a minister, and her struggle to come to terms with the refusal of many Christian denominations to ordain openly gay and lesbian spiritual leaders. Whether reflecting on the meaning of Christmas and Easter, pondering the presence of Sophia in daily life, praying in lonely places, dealing with anger and feelings of betrayal towards those who have treated her shamefully, identifying with Jesus and his suffering, or trying to rise to the challenge of being joyous, Youngdahl carries on with a combination of patience and courage and love.
