God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Maybe if Starr (Dark Night of the Soul) were less of a storyteller, her style would be less invitational, but she writes about the three Abrahamic religions as a woman in love, not as a tenure-hungry prof. The result, bearing the brilliance of her surname, plaits a strong braid from the essences of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: God is love. Starr’s interspiritual quest (a birthright, she asserts) follows the same formula in each chapter, covering topics such as suffering, silence, and the feminine. Each begins with quotations from the three religions’ holy books and seekers, then follows scenarios that define the theme in a warm second-person voice; for example, in the chapter “Welcoming the Stranger,” Starr, a workshop and retreat leader, describes doors you open—or do not. After knowledgeable and humbling descriptions, she lays out the religions’ teachings and profiles practitioners, for example, Christianity’s Dorothy Day, Judaism’s Baal Shem Tov, and the Sufi ecstatic Rabia Al-Adawiyya. In the nonfluffy afterword, Starr nudges travelers on the three paths, following her sure-footed approach. (Apr. 24)