She Was Always There

We should face that world not with our opinions but with our questions, indeed in a questioning mood and attitude. -- Rudolf Steiner, The Fifth Gospel

"Who, or perhaps what, is she?" Signe Eklund Schaefer poses this question as she leads us into a heartfelt exploration of the great mystery that is Sophia. Her book does not take an academic or theological path but one that is personal and full of warmth and genuine interest in discovery that goes toward living reality, well beyond mere names and fixed ideas. As Schaefer says, she decided to "forego the idea of a straightforward narrative and instead interweave musings, poems, saved quotations, and other assorted notes from my many years of living with questions about and to her." The author tells us,

Questions of inner growth, of spiritual striving, of how to bear the suffering in the world without going under, and perhaps most of all, of how to love, often present themselves surrounded by veils. In acknowledging a question, the veil may begin to shift. Our questions matter; bringing them to consciousness, exploring them with others, waiting with an open heart for the spirit to speak--this is the ongoing work of unveiling.

Sophia is rightly seen as the living, moving being of universal wisdom and the archetypal feminine, but Schaefer helps us to see her as more--as an expression of what humanity must rightfully become.

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. -- Arundhati Roy