Bundesen, Lynne 1938–

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Bundesen, Lynne 1938–

PERSONAL:

Born January 18, 1938.

ADDRESSES:

CAREER:

Author, journalist, speaker, consultant, and spiritual expert. Boston Theological Institute, Boston, MA, adjunct professor, 2003. Has worked as a religion columnist for a Hearst syndicated newspaper, 1982- 87; Web site consultant and online content manager through Isaiah Company, 1993-2000; and communities director and spiritual expert for DrWeil.com (a health Web site).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Templeton Science and Religion Grant, Boston Theological Institute.

WRITINGS:

SPIRITUAL WRITINGS

GodDependency: Finding Freedom from Codependency and Discovering Spiritual Self-Reliance, Crossroad (New York, NY), 1989.

The Woman's Guide to the Bible, Crossroad (New York, NY), 1993.

So the Woman Went Her Way: A Personal Journey, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1993.

One Prayer at a Time: A Day-to-Day Path to Spiritual Growth, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1995.

The Feminine Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture, Jossey-Bass (San Francisco, CA), 2007.

OTHER

Us, People of Washington, D.C.: A Photostory, Acropolis Books (Washington, DC), 1976.

Dear Miss Liberty: Letters to the Statue of Liberty, G.M. Smith (Salt Lake City, UT), 1986.

Click! 101 Computer Activities and Art Projects for Kids and Grown-Ups, Fireside Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Also author of weekly column for the Web site ReligionandSpirituality.com. Advisor to the blog Ether. The author's works have been translated into Portuguese, Japanese, and Korean.

SIDELIGHTS:

Born on January 18, 1938, Lynne Bundesen is a journalist, consultant for online media, spiritual expert, and conference speaker. She has also written several books about the Bible and spirituality. In an interview on DrWeil.com, a Web site for which she serves as communities director and spiritual expert, she said, "There is nothing more glorious to our soul[s] than to see … and catch a glimpse of the glory and comfort of Spirit." Bundesen is especially interested in women's spirituality and the roles of women and femininity in the Bible. She has authored such books as The Woman's Guide to the Bible and So the Woman Went Her Way: A Personal Journey, both published in 1993, as well as The Feminine Spirit: Recapturing the Heart of Scripture, published in 2007. These works guide readers toward the female aspects of biblical stories.

So the Woman Went Her Way, is a spiritual memoir that charts Bundesen's own spiritual history and discovery of feminine spirituality. She anchors her writing in specific passages of the Bible, which she analyzes from a woman's viewpoint. At the same time, she chronicles how they have affected her life. The Feminine Spirit is a more recent publication along the same lines, once again displaying Bundesen's knowledge of the Bible and her desire to explore the feminine aspects of its stories. According to a reviewer for Publishers Weekly, The Feminine Spirit provides "a new way to read the Bible with women in the limelight." Sandra Collins, writing for Library Journal, noted that The Feminine Spirit presents "not a deep scholarly or historical analysis" but rather a "book-by-book perspective heavy on elucidating ‘the female nature of God.’"

Bundesen's 1989 book GodDependency: Finding Freedom from Codependency and Discovering Spiritual Self-Reliance is less concerned with the feminine aspects of spirituality than it is with the healing potential of spirituality for all individuals. Likewise, One Prayer At a Time: A Day-to-Day Path to Spiritual Growth, published in 1998, is a gender-neutral compilation of daily prayers.

Bundesen has also written books on secular topics. Us, People of Washington, D.C.: A Photostory is a 1976 work that portrays people living in Washington, DC. She also published Dear Miss Liberty: Letters to the Statue of Liberty in 1986 and Click! 101 Computer Activities and Art Projects for Kids and Grown-Ups in 1997.

Bundesen told CA: "Reading and the insistence of others that I share my perspective first got me interested in writing.

"My work is influenced by the domestic and foreign policies of nations as related to religious and spiritual beliefs. I am also influenced by the Bible, Hebrew poetry, and the works of Mary Baker Eddy. The Bible is my favorite book. It contains all the wisdom, passion, love, and human history that anyone could want."

When asked to describe her writing process, Bundesen responded: "Anguished. I need to shut myself in a room and concentrate completely. I keep all my source books on the floor near me and often just force myself to work.

"The most surprising thing I have learned as a writer is that I can do it at all.

"I hope that my books will prompt readers to investigate the Scriptures for themselves."