Claiming Your Voice
Speaking Truth to Power
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Liturgical Press
Published:9th Sep '22
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This book explores the challenges facing contemporary American society, addressing issues like market culture, empire, climate change, and racism, while encouraging a return to hope and spiritual empowerment for all.
In Claiming Your Voice, the author, Vest, explores the current state of American society and its ability to reflect on its purpose and integrity. The book opens with a reminder of the nation's optimistic beginnings, marked by a belief in divine blessing. However, it acknowledges a sense of disarray and division among citizens, prompting the question of what has led to this troubling moment in history. Vest invites readers to consider whether there is a path forward for we the people to reclaim a sense of unity and purpose.
The author identifies four significant patterns that have contributed to the current challenges facing America: market culture, the concept of American empire, the climate crisis, and systemic racism. Each of these issues is examined in detail, revealing how they distort societal values and hinder collective progress. By addressing these deforming patterns, Vest encourages a deeper understanding of the complexities at play in contemporary American life.
Drawing on Christian foundations, particularly prophetic imagination and Benedictine spirituality, Vest emphasizes the importance of hope and awareness in overcoming public apathy. She argues that Americans have a vital role in making the sacred visible and empowering for everyone. Through her insightful analysis, Claiming Your Voice serves as a call to action, urging individuals to engage with these pressing issues and find their voice in the ongoing quest for justice and integrity within the nation.
"Dr. Norvene Vest’s radical call for reform in Claiming Your Voice: Speaking Truth to Power names many complex levels of our culture, but perhaps is most urgent in the political landscape. Her expose will not settle for simply patching once again a sinking ship with the band aids of greedy, self-serving and economic bromides. She insists we entertain 'a prophetic imagination' to move us into a political theology of caring and serving the larger community—so to heal de-formations through compassionate re-formations. Anything less imprisons us in the same bloated, exhausted 'empire'; instead of continuing 'following the profits,' we must choose instead following the prophets."
Dennis Patrick Slattery, PhD, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Mythological Studies Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute and author, most recently of The Way of Myth: Stories’ Subtle Wisdom
"In an age when some lament the absence of public theology, Norvene Vest's Claiming Your Voice is a welcome and timely articulation of an important role for religion and spirituality in social discourse. Readers will find its combination of the Hebrew prophetic tradition and the Benedictine wisdom tradition refreshing and thought-provoking."
Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam, Prior at New Camaldoli Hermitage, Big Sur
"Vest challenges us to put on our mature Christian 'pants' in order to face into the hard truths of our times. By speaking the truth in love, she invites us to center ourselves in the Holy Spirit while moving to bring about the change our communities and the world yearns for. The community renewal she urges will require deep listening, faithful prayer, acceptance of our human limits and courageous hope. This is a brave voice speaking to those who wish to be courageous Christians in the work of transformation."
Bishop Diana Akiyama, Episcopal Diocese of Oregon
“Claiming Your Voice is an urgent appeal to heed for our times. Rooted in timeless Benedictine wisdom and the Old Testament prophetic tradition, Norvene Vest exposes us to the sobering realities we all confront in our world today and issues a challenge for us to elevate such witness into active public engagement that allows the 'sacred' to permeate our common life. A hugely provocative yet hopeful read!”
Wil Hernandez, PhD, Obl OSB, spiritual director, author, and executive director of CenterQuest
ISBN: 9780814667934
Dimensions: 216mm x 140mm x 13mm
Weight: 284g
232 pages