Patricia Lynn Reilly
Ballantine Books
1996

There have been a number of books over the years that have addressed the problem of male-centered religion, especially in the Judeo-Christian traditions. For years, from Mary Daly's Beyond God the Father to Starhawk's The Spiral Dance, feminist thinkers have been reclaiming goddess religions and trying to find ways to bring more gender balance to traditionally patriarchal religions. This book, while firmly placed on that path, takes a slightly different approach than most.

A God Who Looks Like Me is a highly personal book; much of the text consists of remarks from women Reilly has led in workshops, as well as examples from her own life and journal entries. The book comes out of Christian traditions, detailing the alienation these women felt at being excluded from the image of God, as well as from full participation in their churches. They write of great sadness, realizing they will only be second-class participants in a relationship with God, and also go into some detail about how the image of God as a father figure had consequences in their later relationships with men.

Where Reilly's book takes a different turn from most on the subject is in its level of reader participation. While it's possible to read the book straight through, the reader will probably find a much deeper experience by doing at least some of the exercises Reilly provides. She starts with fairly basic concepts like paying attention to the gender we apply to the image of God, what kind of language we use to describe God, and then progresses from there to an exploration of the consequences of that image and language through all aspects of life. I would highly recommend reading this book along with a journal or blank book; it raises a lot of questions well worth exploring.