Fantasist's Scroll

I’d like to give this book a good review.

No, really, I would. When I picked it up, I had high hopes for a deeply moving spiritual experience. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it. Oh, it was a good reminder that I need to be more connected to the source of my spiritual strength, which is God. But, mostly, it was watered-down New Age mubo-jumbo.

It started out okay, though it wasn’t what I expected. It was, essentially, a work of fiction meant to impart nine “insights” of a spiritual nature. I hadn’t expected a story at all, but I plowed ahead anyway. Even though it was written at about the same level as USA Today. Then, they started to tell me that I needed to be a vegetarian. Uh-oh… I disagree with that for a number of reasons, which I won’t go into here. Suffice it to say that was my first warning that this wasn’t my kind of book. But, I reminded myself of all the Hindu and Buddhist vegetarians and kept reading.
Then, they started seeing auras. Oh, they called it “energy fields”, but it was nothing more than auras. That’s not bad in and of itself, but it added a bit of hokey-ness to the whole thing that was hard to get past later.
And, from there on out, everyone was a characature of a stereotype found in pop-psychology or New Age literature. Not that it’s all that bad, but it didn’t endear the book’s author to me. And, ultimately, it all got in the way of my reading. It’s never a good sign when the medium obstructs the message.

Still, it wasn’t a total loss. I did gain a deeper appreciation for better books! And, it made me think about what “coincidenes” really mean. Are they just interesting accidents? Or, are they messages from a higher source? So, I vowed to pay closer attention to chance encounters and such.
Also, it made me think more about how we interact with each other. How most of us are not conscious of the way we talk to and treat others. I know that I have not always been very conscious of how I deal with others. So, I promised myself that I would pay more attention to my interactions with other people.

So, while I can’t honestly reccomend this book to anyone else, it wasn’t a total loss. Oh, and normally, I’d post this on a Sunday, since it was a book about spirituality, but I’m announcing a new site feature tomorrow. And, the next two Sundays as well. Stay tuned!