Acceptance

by Gillian Stokes

Book by Stokes, Gillian

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely enjoyed this book. A number of the stories shared I am already familiar with as I have read them previously. Even though this time around they were not told in the exact same way once I started reading I remember the lesson previously learned. One can learn or be reminded of many lessons, one of many that resonated with me today can be found on page 95 oh what a sweet reminder ... "In the end it is all a matter of perspective. What for the caterpillar seems the end of the world is, in fact, birth for the butterfly." Definitely a book I will suggest others read.

[Isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik zat er super lekker in en werd op meerdere manieren geïnspireerd en aangewakkerd. Toch zwakte dit alles aan het einde een beetje af? Geen conclusie of iets een tipje ofzo had ik nog wel kunnen waarderen. Al met al, prachtig en mooi en zo zie je maar.

[The Canadian Book Worm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice quick read, beautiful quotes.

[Nicholas Zacharewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally don't read books that offer the sirloin cuts of philosophies up front without any of the fat, and so I was pretty skeptical about this book. After all, its subtitle makes it explicit that it's about "Wisdom from Around the World" while also being about 127 pages. Nonetheless, I received this book as a graduation gift and so I figured that someone in my life considered it a book I'd enjoy. So I finally sat down and read it.

And I quite liked it.

Stokes divides the book into three parts: Acceptance in religious traditions from around the world, acceptance as a spiritual practice, and how to integrate acceptance into your daily life.

At first, I thought that this organization would lead to a book full of religious platitudes, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the quotes she peppers throughout the book are intelligently paired with various (relatively) famous paintings. Also, by looking at acceptance in world religions first, Stokes equips the reader up to seriously consider her subject matter without any religious trappings in section two, and to be completely on board with pondering what sort of presence acceptance has in their own lives come section three.

I also appreciated how Stokes doesn't try to pass off acceptance as some sort of spiritual cure-all. In the book's last two sections, she doesn't shy away from noting that acceptance is not passivity and that things that come when a person is more open to acceptance (like being more in touch with your intuition) are not always going to yield a positive result. That said, Stokes spends so much of the book praising acceptance that these warnings and caveats aren't given enough coverage.

Since this book is just 127 pages, it also comes as no surprise that you won't find a particularly deep look at acceptance here. However, as a survey of acceptance and just what it means in religious, spiritual, and practical contexts, Stokes' book is a great resource.