Available in print through online bookstores, as well as in selected bookstores, particularly in the St. Louis area. Available also in digital form through Amazon Kindle, B&N Book Nook, and Apple iBooks.
Description: As a young child, outraged by the hypocrisy she finds in a church that does nothing to alleviate the physical and sexual abuse she experiences on a regular basis, Beth delivers an accusatory youth sermon and gets her family expelled from the church. Having locked the door on God, Beth goes on to raise a family of seven children, learn 17 languages, and enjoy a career that takes her to NASA, Washington, and 24 countries. All the time, however, God keeps knocking at the door, protecting and blessing her, which she realizes only decades later. Ultimately, Beth finds God in a very simple yet most unusual way. A very human story, Blest Atheist encompasses the greatest literary themes of all time – alienation, redemption, and even the miraculous. The author’s life experiences, both tragic and tremendous, result in a spiritual journey containing significant ups and downs that ultimately yield great joy and humility.
From the Press Release:
Why would God bless an atheist? This question is at the heart of Elizabeth Mahlou’s memoir. Elizabeth’s story demonstrates that she is a catalyst for miracles large and small as well as an active force for good in the world despite being an atheist. Neither shocked nor surprised by the wretched or the wonderful, she works tirelessly with incredible energy and intelligence to be the axis at which the one will become the other.
Blest Atheist, a very human story, encompasses the greatest literary themes of all time – alienation, redemption, and even the miraculous. The author’s life experiences, both tragic and tremendous, result in a spiritual journey containing significant ups and downs that ultimately yield great joy and humility Her narrative, which sweeps readers from continent to continent, from past time to present time, from laughter to tears, is garnering a loyal following.
One reader writes, “I was overwhelmed by this book. It was astounding...your use of words is stunning...but mostly I want to tell you how much I love this book.”
Another reader writes, “Your humor balances the tragedy and sadness; there is no self-pity, just many life lessons learned. Your last chapter especially is very powerful as you share your words of transformation and enlightenment. I gained wisdom and understanding from your words.”
Reviews:
Elizabeth Mahlou grew up in an abusive home. She tells of her mother stabbing her brother with a knife in the buttocks, and her father throwing a pitchfork and stabbing him with it. Taking an airplane ride had a whole new meaning in this family. The abuse was physical, emotional, and sexual. "The wounds were in the heart and mind and covered parts of the body." Like most bullies, their mother blamed them for the pain she inflicted.
Did Mahlou's mother have PMDD? Possibly, however, medicine was not available at that time. Elizabeth knew that she had a problem with rage. She took it out in different ways. She did not beat her children. She believes that rage can be inherited. Perhaps it can, or perhaps it is a learned trait.
I can hardly blame her for the sermon the young Elizabeth unleashed on the congregation of her church. She must have seen them as evil to sit by and allow the abuse to continue. She saw them as hypocrites. Mahlou
turned her back on God, because she thought he had turned his back on her.
Mahlou continues to share bits and pieces of her adult life, including her stint in the army. She speaks of her handicapped children. Mahlou fought for equality for her children. Time after time, things happened that many would call coincidences. Eventually, Elizabeth Mahlou came to know them as blessings from God.
One of the most astute statements in this book is "There is a clear difference between an easy life and a good life." Elizabeth's life has not been, easy but her adult years have been good.
Blest Atheist is an unusual book. Elizabeth Mahlou has led an unusual life. It is easy to see how intelligent she is. 2/3 or more of this book is spent discussing her childhood. I hope that putting all of that terrible time on paper gives her closure. Many would never be able to forgive such abuse. As Elizabeth has discovered, with God all things are possible. I wish her well and all of God's blessings. (Debra Gaynor, Barnes & Noble)
From Library Thing:
If you want a good read, read this book! Initially, the title did not especially grab me though I was intrigued by the thought of an atheist considering herself blest.
Elizabeth Mahlou grew up in a violently abusive family, yet one that was outwardly respectable and church going. She made the decision as a teenager to be an atheist. How could there be a god or God when she and her siblings experienced so much physical abuse, especially from their mother.
The author refused to be cowed. She and her siblings (the 8-pack) went on to break out of the mold, and not repeat the abuse with their own families.
Elizabeth became an linguist and expert in all things Russian. She weaves her own story through the story of Shura, a artisticaslly talented lad rescued from certain death because of spina bifida. The whole book is a beautifully woven tapestry. I only got lost once and that was in one chapter with a lot of Russian names and connections.
One of the prominent threads is how again and again, people were blest by her. She could not help but be a blessing to others. And, even though in her head she was an atheist, in her heart she was not. It was great to read of how her heart and head came together where she found herself in a profound experience with God that bypassed her mind before finally capturing it.
I'm so glad I read it. I have stickers all through the book at places to which I want to return for further ponder. (frannyji)
The author (from her blog: 100th Lamb):
I am the mother of 4 birth children (plus 3 others who lived with us)
and grandmother of 2, all of them exceptional children. Married for 42
years, I grew up in Maine, live in California, and work in many places
in education, linguistics, and program management. In my spare time, I
rescue and tame feral cats and have the scars to prove it. A long-time
ignorantly blissful atheist converted by a theophanic experience to
Catholicism,
I am now a joyful catechist. Oh, I also authored a dozen books, two
under my pen name of Mahlou (Blest Atheist and A Believer-in-Waiting's
First Encounters with God).
Contact the author via MSI Press: editor@msipress.com.
Contact the author via MSI Press: editor@msipress.com.
How were we able to turn the tables on our lives when so many others have not been able to survive far less life-threatening situations? Was God there with us in the burning house? Did God teach us lessons beyond those we learned at school that would stand us in good stead all the rest of our lives?
Wayne Muller wrote in Legacy of the Heart, "With each painful event, we renew our efforts to explain to explain the causes of our suffering." The 8-pack [the eight children in the Mahlou family] were unlike most in that respect; we knew the causes, and each time we knew we were not the cause. Rather than seeking the causes of our suffering, the question that I have perpetually raised is why we survived such extreme abuse when others who experienced less abuse did not reach adulthood intact.
Danielle [my younger sister] believes that she has the answer to that question. Her earliest memory -- she insists she was only two years old at the time -- is of a prayer: "Dear God, Daddy is gone all the time, and Ma is a child. I guess You have to raise us. Please!"
Could the explanation be that simple and that powerful, that God heard a precocious child's perspicacious prayer, took it seriously, and answered it for all of the 8-pack? And more awe-inspiring, could a loving God, acting in loco parentis, unseen and unbidden by most of us, been watching over and protecting the 8-pack all of our lives, ensuring our physical, emotional, and ethical well-being?
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