AuthorsBookshop.com: If I gave you God's phone number....

Christopher N�el, author of In The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing: A Georgraphy of Grief:

�Mare Cromwell�s book offers the reader what only the best books offer�windows into the most authentic reaches of the soul. Her conscientious selection of interview subjects, and her deft questioning, which presses them to go deeper and deeper, is what lends the book its striking range. This diorama of spiritual postures�some passionate, some highly intellectualized�is impossible to look away from, infects the reader with a fever of curiosity about the human condition, and then proceeds to administer the careful cure: vivid, compelling testimony. Not only do her many subjects nourish the reader by their telling, but Cromwell too provides ongoing doses of self-revelation, a gesture of honesty that unifies and strengthens the whole picture. I can guarantee that reading if i gave you God�s phone number will enrich your view of spiritual life�in all its radiant variety�forever.�

James Crowfoot, Ph.D., Professor and Dean Emeritus, University of Michigan and former President of Antioch College:

�I strongly recommend this engaging, thought-provoking book. It is distinguished by Ms. Cromwell�s empathy for the interesting and diverse people she searched out to interview about their communication with God. Readers will be stimulated to reflect on their own spiritual journey as well as the author�s own experiences and those of the people she has interviewed. Because of Ms. Cromwell�s personal candor and insights, I continue to ponder the central question she asked her interviewees in this important and unusual book.�

www.crystalreviews.com/authors/mare.htm:

Mare Cromwell has compiled a collection of narrative conversations that will touch every reader who has ever believed, doubted, questioned, rejected, revered, wondered about, or worshipped a higher power.

Beginning with her own spiritual search and journey, the author begins to question people she meets across America. The initial question which entitles this book moves each interviewed person in various ways and in turn affects both interviewer and reader in various cycles. This is the strength of this book, as the narrative accounts of each person reflect something deep within every human being, acknowledged or not.

Does God test us? Why does He allow such evil to not only exist but absolutely flourish? How can I ever stop thanking Him for his salvation and love? How can I believe in something or someone who obviously has nothing to do with my life? How real is the Bible? And if that is so, what about other religious scriptures that teach others to hate? Is there a devil? What is the purpose of everything? Is there a "jailhouse God?" How do I know when prayer is successful - or not? How can I form a meaningful relationship with God in every moment of every day?

These and numerous other questions and related statements are carefully woven into accounts ranging across every racial, age, economic, and social level. Participating in the process seems to awaken something unique within every person sharing their response to the initial query. Many interviewees clearly describe the intimate, moment-by-moment, sacred relationship that enfolds their every living moment. The ultimate reality of every interviewee seems to be, "Does God absolutely love me and this creation in whose midst I live?" The author, because of these interactive and intimate moments, avidly responds, "Yes". The reader wonders how each participant would answer months after these powerful meetings.

While this reader was tempted to mention here the most meaningful responses, ultimately every one touched me deeply, whether liking or disliking what each induced! No matter where in the spiritual spectrum one is at present, this book is sure to invite one to deeper contemplation of an essential core experience.

Fascinating, Mare Cromwell!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal.

ForeWord Magazine Nov/Dec 2002:

If I Gave You God�s Phone Number�.:
Searching for Spirituality in America
Mare Cromwell

�If I gave you God�s phone number, what would you do with it?� Call Him? Call Her? Put it in a safe place? Many people would love to be given God�s phone number and get answers to questions like �Why doesn�t God stop evil?� or �Did He plan this mess?� If God is indeed in charge of �this mess� then, with few exceptions, Cromwell�s interviewees express dissatisfaction with the management.
The author�s interviewees fall into specific categories:
1) Devout Christians who use similar language and have similar topics to discuss with God and do so from the standpoint of dualism (God as an entity outside of the self);
2) Agnostics or atheists who answer from the standpoint of �well, IF I believed in a God, which I don't, THEN...�
3) Children who share spontaneously minus most of the baggage that hinders adults approaching the question
4) And a small group of people who come to the question with a sense of awe and wonder, even innocence, in relating to that which is bigger than themselves, yet integrally part of their very being, bigger than their human comprehension, yet able to be known at many levels.
In this, her first published book, Cromwell, a graduate of the University of Michigan with a Masters in Natural Resources, works her way through her own issues as each person interviewed adds a new perspective to the discovery of her true path, her true self. Unlike many memoirs, this book interweaves the author's own doubts and searchings with the spiritual journeys of the interviewees.
Cromwell took seven years to interview close to fifty people. Her interview with a devout Sufi Muslim, done shortly after the September 11 tragedy, provides moving and compassionate insight into an Islam completely removed from that of terrorism and revenge. The book will appeal to those who are asking their own questions and are curious about the questions of others like themselves. It provokes a desire in the reader to want to add his or her answers to the questions as well! (November)
Linda L. Wilson

Mare Cromwell is a writer, poet, gardener and environmentalist. A spiritual seeker for many years, she received a Masters in natural resources from the University of Michigan and worked internationally before starting this book. Seven years of interviewing along with a personal intensive search for spiritual meaning culminated in this treatise. Currently a professional gardener, Mare resides in Baltimore, Maryland, where she occasionally leads talks and workshops on spirituality, environmental sustainability and simplicity.