Writing for Life
"What good is love if it is not shared?"
(from "This Bitter Earth" by Dinah Washington)
Writing—like love—is nothing if it is not shared. Even the most private diary has an audience—an imaginary other to whom it is addressed. To write is to find words for the half-formed realm of private thoughts, fears, and imaginings, to send them out into the world as an incarnate love offering. Like love, writing makes us vulnerable and exposes us in ways we would rather keep hidden. It sometimes goes wrong and brings disappointment and a sense of betrayal. To write is to reach out in trust to an unknown other with a yearning to communicate and to be understood, knowing that one might be rejected. But the ecstasy of communion is always worth the risk of rejection.
Other recent publications
A Theology of Becoming:
Body, Blood, Birth, and Sacrament
"If there is a discernible method to what follows, perhaps it is best read not as a failed attempt at theology or phenomenology, but as the shaping of an unfinished narrative that is part memoir, part creative writing, and part theological reflection, leaving many questions unanswered. How could it be otherwise, when the quest leads us to the birthing (of) God? There should always be a little madness in our method when we risk speaking of the unspeakable."
Modern theological approaches to birth have been filtered through an androcentric lens, focusing more on ethical questions of contraception and abortion than on the significance of birth for what it means to be human. In the Catholic tradition, this has been influenced by doctrines and traditions surrounding Mary's virginal conception of Christ and painless birth. This Element considers the challenges posed by maternal life to ideas and theories about pregnancy, childbirth, and the relationship between a woman and her newborn child. Reflecting on her maternal experiences through the lenses of feminist theory and Marian theology, the author sketches the contours of an incarnational theology that endows the birthing body with sacramental significance. She concludes by asking what it would mean for theological anthropology to adopt this as the normative model of the person reborn through baptism into the body of the maternal Church.
From The Pastoral Review:
Tina Beattie beautifully interweaves theology, experience (her own and that of other women past and present) and voices from the Catholic tradition and her research on gender and sacramentality ... This book may take its time to find its way onto
reading lists, but there is something profoundly life-giving here, ‘for our good and the good of all
his holy Church’.
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Saints' Lives
Illustrations by Alicia Rutigliano
published by Dorling Kindersley
From the publisher's website:
Step into the incredible lives of the saints with this absolutely stunning collection of tales, written by broadcaster and Professor of Catholic Studies, Tina Beattie.
Favourite stories, such as St Jerome nursing a lion and St Brigid's miraculously expanding cloak, sit alongside those which are lesser-known, such as when St Kevin had to stay still while a blackbird nested in his hand or when St Margaret was swallowed by a dragon. All are filled with bravery, kindness, and resilience, and the beautiful illustrations by artist Alicia Rutigliano bring the saints to life.
More than 25 saints are featured, each with both a fact-filled profile and the story of one of their miracles. Find out which saint has a firework named after her, which saint gave us Santa Claus, and which saint may have created the Loch Ness Monster. A reference section includes information on patron saints, relics, and miracles, as well as a calendar of feast days for every day of the year.
Whether for a special occasion, such as confirmation, or simply for a child who enjoys stories filled with adventure, Saints' Lives is the perfect gift.
