Authors: Marianne Williamson
ISBN-13: 9781573223515, ISBN-10: 1573223514
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Date Published: October 2004
Edition: Reprint
Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed lecturer, author, and spiritual teacher. The Age of Miracles hit number two on the New York Times bestseller list. Among her other nine published books, four of themincluding A Return to Lovewere number one New York Times bestsellers.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Illuminata comes a book about everyday peace, everyday purpose, everyday hope, everyday love, and everyday grace.
In these pages, author and lecturer Marianne Williamson acts as a guide back to the spiritual source, exploring the ways to nurture a thriving soul in a harsh world. The large and small difficulties of our days challenge us to open our hearts and minds. With an attitude of hope, a call to forgive, and a celebration of miracles, Williamson helps readers to find sacred footing on ordinary ground. For no matter what, there is always an opportunity to be happy. Everyone is entitled to the pleasures of everyday grace.
Although many people may perceive the achievement of mystical union with the divine as an arduous feat, requiring fasting, pilgrimage and mortification of the flesh, spirituality diva Williamson says "thirty minutes each morning" of "quality time with God" will do the trick. The author of Illuminata aims her book of nonsectarian religious consolation squarely at harried professionals who are frazzled by overscheduling and fret over the disasters they hear about on the news. The path to serenity lies in becoming a "modern mystic" who sees that "everything connects to everything" and that "every issue [is] a spiritual one," from dry-cleaning mishaps to the Middle East peace process (which will be resolved when Israelis and Palestinians understand their essential oneness). Readers can even spiritually transcend their wait at the Department of Motor Vehicles, because "every person in line is someone we can bless." In Williamson's rapturous, liturgical prose, oceanic bliss is conveniently tapped into with prayer and by beaming positive mental energy to a universe karmically primed to beam it back. Although Williamson's insistence on the magical oneness of our desires and our external reality may strike some as wishful thinking, her message will continue to bring peace of mind to her many fans. (Nov. 11) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Acknowledgments | xi | |
Introduction: Reclaiming our Magic | 1 | |
Part I | Thoughts of Grace | 9 |
The Mystical Wands | 11 | |
Wand 1 | Miracles Happen | 20 |
Wand 2 | The Angels Are Waiting for Us | 30 |
Wand 3 | Thoughts of Judgment Block the Light | 38 |
Wand 4 | The End Is Inherent in the Means | 48 |
Wand 5 | Sacred Silence Rights the Universe | 58 |
Abracadabra | 67 | |
Part II | A Day of Grace | 71 |
8:00 am Starting the Day | 73 | |
9:00 am Hearing the News | 85 | |
10:00 am Working | 97 | |
11:00 am Needing Work | 111 | |
12:00 Noon Being Happy | 121 | |
1:00 pm Feeling Jealous | 127 | |
2:00 pm Making Decisions | 135 | |
3:00 pm Feeling Bored | 143 | |
4:00 pm Arguing | 153 | |
5:00 pm Hoping Against Hope | 163 | |
6:00 pm Feeling Guilty | 171 | |
7:00 pm Grieving | 181 | |
8:00 pm Learning Compassion | 189 | |
Part III | A Life of Grace | 199 |
Ritual | 201 | |
Sabbath | 210 | |
Holidays | 217 | |
Relationships | 225 | |
Community | 240 |