A study of prayer with an emphasis on The Lord's Prayer. This book was on Dr. Bob's required reading list for early AA members. Dr. Clark gives a wonderful interpretation of the Lords' Prayer and discusses spirituality from a Christian perspective. A wonderful book.
This book was sheer drudgery, reading it was like slogging through a vat of sticky, sweet syrup. It was so full of Christian sentimentality and promotion of positive thinking that I was sickened by it. Since it was published in the generation when my dad was a youth, I figured it might have some helpful spiritual truths for me to benefit from. They may have been there, but sunk in the dripping sugary wishful thinking, how could I have found them?
Most offensive of all was the way it turned the spiritual experience inward. It was not about knowing God or a relationship with him, it was about spiritual self-help. It's essence was, "Here's what you need to do to find fulfillment using spiritual methods that we will label as Christianity. God is there for you to help you form your dreams and realize them." This puts everything inside out. We are not in the center, but God is. And He does not exist just to be at our beck and call. Whether or not I have health, money, friends, creativity or anything else promised by following Clark's recommendations is not important compared to whether or not I have unity with God and am being transformed into the likeness of His Son. God's will for me should not be about me, it should be about God, and this book certainly does not lead one in that direction. It seems to be a precursor to the "Health and Wealth Gospel" that has developed in phases in my lifetime. After reading the book I found that Glenn Clark is considered one of the teachers of the New Thought theology, something similar to Christian Science, though it seems he never abandoned his place in the Presbyterian Church.
I rarely throw a book away, but this one is going in the recycle bin because I hope that it never falls into the hands of a reader who could be misdirected by its false teaching. I learned that the false teaching of sugar-coated religion are not new to Christianity by reading this book, so at least I gained that by spending a week and a half on the book. And granted, it is not meant to be read in a short time, but is to be read in one section each day to be meditated on and practiced. Well, I wasn't about to waste any more time on this book than I had to, so I rushed through it, especially at the end.
He gives the story of Jack and the Beanstalk about as much value as the teachings of Christ in the book. That about sums it up. Give me faith and reason, and give it too me straight, and leave out the artificial sweeteners, please!
Clearing off the bookshelf and thought I would give the author another try after tossing his previous work. No thank you. The Gospel is only good news if you have the bad news. This author is works based and seems to have missed the message of Jeremiah 17:9. Had thought that I might glean some relevant images/object lessons but this too is going in the trash.
This book will give you a way to harness the day to day walk of life. Unlock your minds foundation and see you hinds feet step a solid foundation. You will want to read it more than once. 5 STARS