Maria D Peregolise
God My Father: A Portrait of Divinity
“A learned man is an idler who kills time with study. Beware of his false knowledge: it is more dangerous than ignorance,” George Bernard Shaw, 1905 (Shaw, 1905)
“Just trust me”
I hated those words from my Father, along with an abrupt hand gesture that always made me flinch…
In God My Father: A Portrait of Divinity, author Maria Peregolise explores the tensions of obedience and defiance in the face of an omnipresent force and tantalizes the reader with the powerful portrait of faith she portrays. In exploring this striking theme, Maria recalls the relatable experiences in childhood when the intense pressures and overwhelming desires for acceptance and independence muddy much of our understanding of the world around us.
Maria D Peregolise is the Gold Writer of the ArtAscent Portraits call for writers. To see the full body of work and profile, get a copy of the ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Portraits issue.
As a former neighbor, who attended one “meeting” of this cult, I am proud of Maria for overcoming something so hurtful to her throughout her lifetime. I loved the family, but knew this was the teachings of a cult, therefore did not involve myself in their studies. Maria and her sister are wonderful women who I love as my own children. This is certainly a testament of how damaging cultish teaching is to ones psyche, but evidence of the strength of a woman to pull herself out of the grips of her father’s manipulations.
Maria’s writing is a guiding light in the dark for people who are struggling with or who have struggled and suffered the abuse doled out by a narcissistic parent or cult leader. Maria illustrates how growing up in such an environment molded her to mute herself, doubt herself and caused her perpetual inner turmoil. And though victims of narcists may have been caged in the convoluted realities of their abusers for years or in her case, a lifetime, Maria writes empowering words of hope, in which one can recognize the actual reality of their situation, come to terms with it… Read more »
Very excited to receive my February edition specifically for Mrs. Peregolise’s piece. Her website and the upcoming book explores a childhood of narcissism and neglect. Maria has the emotional intelligence to help others realize their own trauma and discover that the “sky is not green and the grass is not blue”.
I’m so proud of Maria and her willingness to share about her childhood. Much of who we are and who we become is shaped during our childhood. We can all learn from each other’s experiences. Thank you, Maria, for sharing your story.
Can’t wait! If there’s anything I have learned from Maria’s writing, it’s that the concepts of faith and family can be just as damaging and terrifying as they can be uplifting and inspiring- and furthermore, that the amount of trust you put into someone is directly proportionate to the amount of control they have over you. Maria’s writing is emotional and informative, and demonstrates that the damage done to a child in a cult setting can go unnoticed and almost inconsequential until years later, when the threads of faith begin to unravel- and the former culted child’s self-image and worldview… Read more »