Reading Recos 2006
Rev. Marian Whiteman Staff Minister, Pastoral Care
Let's Book a Passage [Winter 2006-2007]
Jack Canfield has done it again, this time collaborating with self-actualizing pioneer, Gay Hendricks. The title of their hot off the press book is You’ve Got To Read This Book! which, incidentally, preempts my column heading of choice. They invited 55 well-known people to share a favorite life changing book. For example, Dr. Bernie Siegel tells how William Saroyan’s The Human Comedy taught him to help people to live, rather than to prevent them from dying. Just the list of the chosen books would make a challenging choice of reading for any individual or any book club.
Children’s books at Christmas demand an imaginative author who is willing to jump into the writing and swim. This needs to be coupled with an eye-grabbing illustrator. This year’s choice is Old Turtle and the Broken Truth, written by Douglas Wood with the brilliant watercolors of Jon J. Muth. The story is dedicated to all who seek Truth and who listen to the language of breezes (and turtles).
An often heard question in the bookstore concerns a good read choice for a person who is experiencing loss. To respond to this inquiry, we have a list of excellent books available at the desk. Life is Goodbye; Life is Hello, by Alla Renee Bozarth, PhD., addresses comforting words. She says that our love is the unfolding miracle that expands joy to include pain. At thirty-seven, loved and healthy, her husband left this planet. The epilogue of the book tells how she found herself in a time between selves and how she found the experience piercing and penetrating, but yet pure; and how she worked through it. A very valuable, worthwhile book.
It is amazing that this column has never mentioned the work of Joel Goldsmith. A good place to start is his Practicing the Presence. Wayne Dyer keeps a picture of him on his writing table just to sense the presence of this teacher. . . Marianne Williamson speaks of him as the guide for her search toward peace. . . Eckhart Tolle feels that Goldsmith’s inspiring writing has made a vital contribution to the spiritual awakening of humanity. Now these opinions count!
Let’s bring this article to a close with a shout for our dear guru from Tucson, Hugh Prather. He offers us 365 awakening meditations under the title Morning Notes. This book deserved 21 paper clips to mark never-to-be-forgotten pages. Prather reminds us vividly that wherever we go, God is already there.
Let’s double our blessings through our good reading!!
Book, Line, and Thinker [Fall 2006]
We are rejoicing in this department because the Dr. Ernest Holmes textbooks are constantly selling. We order 5 copies at a time and have to reorder soon after a shipment arrives! As we are thinking within, so do we manifest! Let’s start this commentary with a newcomer to our long repertoire of very valuable worthwhile writers. Lara De Ann has a passion for sharing parables. She believes wholeheartedly that each person has a unique gift that lives and breathes through being shared with others. Her The Ascension of the Flying Purple Caterpillar is a collection of short vignettes that are intriguing, fascinating, and filled rather innocently with deep wisdom. The appeal is for both adults and children. Don’t miss the one that tells the story of the big blue sky. We would like to give a nod to a second book of Lara De Ann’s, Piece of Planet or Planet of Peace, which is part prose and part poetry. The author takes us with her on a ten-year journey while she learns how to surrender and trust
the Universe after her soul mate’s departure from this planet. Her new perspective is worth the trip. Many of you are familiar with the work of Gary Zukav in The Seat of the Soul, Soul Stories, or The Dancing Lu Wi Masters. Another of his books that is particularly important is The Heart of the Soul, which Zukav has written with Linda Francis, his spiritual partner. They contend that Passion is the unfolding of Joy whereas compulsion is the unfolding of fear and that anger is the agony of believing that you cannot make yourself understood. For those who like to take notes, these writers highlight poignant ideas skillfully. (Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can skip the filling though!) Dr. Ervin Seale, the fine author of Ten Words That Will Change Your Life, wrote a treasure in 1986 called Mingling Minds which is primarily direct quotations from our old SOM friend PPQ, otherwise known as Phineas Parkhurst Quimby and called ‘Park’ by his neighbors.This great man was born
in 1802, and is considered to be one of the few original thinkers of the ages and certainly one of the founders of New Thought in America. Quimby was very much interested in mesmerism and subsequently in a form of hypnotism. He started several times to write a book, but gave up on this means of communication since his patients seemed to be incapable of understanding. Seale’s comments are very helpful and make a thoroughly intriguing read. A great quote of Quimby’s is “When people think they have a disease, which I know they do not, I do not ascribe it to their imagination, but to the fact that they have been deceived.” There is an important book for all adults put out by Hospice, called Pain Management at the End of Life. You may get the point of why it is so essential that we become familiar with this material through the following quotation from the honest heart of an elderly man. “You ask about my pain. That’s interesting because I’ve been here for several
months and no one has asked about my pain. What pain do you mean? The pain of my life when my daughter died? The pain of the disease that’s going to kill me? Or the pain I feel every day because no one comes to visit me?” Lastly, do read Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler. It’s adventure, detective work and spiritual exploration, by foot, jeep, boat, and camel! ......Rich blessings through reading!!!
Ages and Pages [Spring 2006]
This writer is about to do something she has never done before, which is to get right up on a stump and shout loud and long for a certain book. I want, with all my heart, to see a copy of this in every single home of our church by the end of the summer. We simply cannot afford to be without it! This is the only book I know that has solutions for every problem or concern that has been voiced to me this year. It is filled with guidance, direction, meditations, principle, scripture, examples, and quotations – a synthesis of the wisdom of the greatest thinkers. On a special shelf, please find The Science of Mind (Revised and Enlarged) by Ernest Holmes. Dr. Holmes said that the gate is open and you are welcome.
John McMurphy contends in his book Secrets from Great Minds, that a certain amount of greatness hinges upon overcoming identifiable resistance toward improving innate human potential. We often refer to this in our Teaching as the use of ‘command statements’. Examples: I’M JUST NOT VERY CREATIVE. . .THERE’S JUST NOT ENOUGH TIME TO PRACTICE TECHNIQUES. . . MY JOB DOESN’T ALLOW FOR CREATIVITY. . . I’M JUST TOO ANALYTICAL TO BE MORE CREATIVE. .. . I’M AFRAID TO DEVELOP MUCH CREATIVITY BECAUSE IT MIGHT CHANGE MY LIFE. . . This book discusses ‘nowness’, God within, knowing self, acceptance, unconditional love, broad knowledge, and is practical in its suggestions for application. The theme goes along with our thinking about “Emergence” and is a good segue into the church’s preparation for the inspiration that will come to all at Asilomar.
Many of you know that I have long had an affinity for the work of Dag Hammarskjold. A wonderful pair of books to bring us to a closer understanding of Peace can be found in the reading of his classic Markings and his biography, a fascinating account by Burnet Hershey, entitled Dag Hammarskjold: Soldier of Peace. President Kennedy said of him: “His name will be treasured high among the peacemakers of history.” He said of himself, “From scholars and clergymen on my mother’s side, I inherited a belief that, in the very radical sense of the Gospels, all men were equal as children of God and should be treated by us as our masters in God.”
Ever mindful of the importance of simplicity in our lives, we like to include at least one children’s book in this column (intending that the adults read it!). This issue’s choice is a terrific book by Max Lucado called You Are Special. Sergio Martinez deserves credit for his intriguing illustrations. The Wemmicks are little wooden people who put gold stars on talented people and drab gray dots on those who have chipped paint and bumble. This sad state of affairs is remedied as we discover, in a delightful way, that the Power of God makes no mistakes. This book is a good gift for any age at any time.
Let’s get some good background on The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity by reading Catherine Ponder’s book. Rev. Joe likes to quote this writer, and Dr. Tom is responding to her request by writing a book on Abundance.
I am interested in Judith Wright’s the one decision (The absence of capitals is intended). The premise here is that having a great life requires making one decision. This decision is so powerful that it becomes a touchstone for every other decision throughout our lives. The book tells how to choose, make, and follow through on this One Decision and find lasting Happiness.
A new book comes out nearly every day that can help us in all our varied and sundry Ages and Stages. How Blessed we are with BOOKS!
Let's Read Because We Can [Winter 2006]
Frequently, someone says to me, “I keep having this strong feeling that I must do something BIG in some new direction. I like what I’m doing, but it’s just not enough. Help me!” ....The good news is that there is something to do! Before you resign from your job, leave your spouse or spice, or sell your house, try READING! Choose great books and go on spiritual retreats in them. Let’s read because we can!
Make new friends, but keep the old. It is a joy to stand in our amazing book store and glide over the titles on the shelves, smiling and nodding to the familiar jackets. It was a warm affirmation for the books we have in our constantly upgraded stock when we perused the October, 2005, AGNT magazine. It was full of articles about books we have been reviewing and recommending such as: Dr. Masaru Emoto’s The Hidden Messages in Water; James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy (check out his God and the Evolving Universe); and Dr. Judith Orloff’s Positive Energy (on its way to becoming a classic- don’t miss it).
There are three books that need to be a part of this year’s study and that must be affirmed. Those of you who are in Science Of Mind classes are sure to hear about these from your most worthy and valuable professors. The Roads to Truth, by Sherry Evans, searches and researches New Thought’s roots. It is the next step after Braden’s Spirits in Rebellion and a perfect companion read for understanding both. Brilliant!
The Biology of Belief is the most exciting book available in the forward motion of bridging Science and Spirit. Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., is, himself, giddily excited about the new discoveries in Epigenetics, all of which echo the beliefs in our particular Faith Persuasion. A hint: there is more to all of this than DNA!!
The third book is Working With The Law by Raymond Holliwell. We have the revised edition of 2004. I had chosen this masterpiece to read before knowing that it would be a part of the Science Of Mind 200 classes offered this year. This fine work can become a companion and true friend. Whatever you may be facing, this book speaks to it. “Remember the stream of water and how determined it is to reach the mighty ocean. Be that determined to reach and realize all the good that is waiting for you. ..... Every worried thought, every fear, doubt, complaint, argument, and angry thought are but so many boulders, large and small, that you cast into your stream.” He goes on to say that these no longer need to be stumbling blocks but, rather stepping stones leading to your highest good.
