Anxious Disciple

by Mark Mills, Shannon Mills (Illustrations)

Harkening back to Be Here Now, Remember, by Ram Dass, Anxious Disciple blends together Eastern philosophy, Christian metaphysics, counseling theories, and common sense to provide a spiritual guide that deals with all these questions. Mills begins with grounding the reader in spiritual connection with the divine, then moves to cultivating a deeper awareness of self, and then connects these two aspects of being to having effective relationships. Living in the here and now is the key to making all this possible and empowers a disciple to live with less anxiety. This is essential in living a more effective and rewarding life. What do you want your life to be like? Do you feel spiritually connected every day? Do you feel that your major decisions are an extension of the Universe being lived out through you? Anxious Disciple contains many "journal opportunities" that provide moments of reflection. The reader is encouraged to use these moments in refining an understanding of who/what God is, who we are to God, and how all this makes sense in our relationships with others. You can live a spiritual life and still be grounded in the real world around you without having to buy into a church or religious groups party line. Why not work to integrate the spiritual beliefs you already have with your everyday life? Why not get started on that today by reading Anxious Disciple?

140 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 2012

About the author

Obviously one has to read before one can write ... right? My parents started teaching me to read when I was four years old, at home, with posterboard flash cards. When I started Kindergarten, I could already read paragraphs and when I started first grade, I had read all the Dr. Seuss books in the house. There were many. I got bored with most books, though, and mostly enjoyed reading about our nation's fledgling space program and a few juvenile fiction works about life in space. I guess that was around the third and fourth grades. Then, in high school, my mother handed me The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and said, "Try these, I think you'll enjoy them." She had already read them all. As far back as I can remember, my mother worked the entire New York Times crossword on a Sunday afternoon. She was brilliant. My early favorite authors, in addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, were Roger Zelazny and Philip Jose Farmer. I had the rare opportunity to meet both authors at a comic con in the early 1980s and got a tiny bit of 1-on-1 encouragement! Still not believing I could write professionally, I went home and kept at short stories, children's stories, and whatever else seemed fun to write about.

I took College Prep English in my senior year of high school. We had to write a short story. I had never written one before but I wrote what I could come up with the night before it was due. My ADHD, undiagnosed because in 1977 nobody knew it was a thing, caused me a lot of frustration. I scratched through and edited thinking I was turning in the final thing. The next day, Ms. Bowers said, "We have one person who turned in a final draft when only a rough draft was due." She then called me up and had me read mine in front of the class. I was a little embarrassed but excited because of a huge compliment. Since then, I knew that at some point I wanted to be a writer.

Reviews

[Twobookworms · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Mark Mills book, On Earth As It Is in Heaven: Spiritual Attunement for Living Out God's Power Abiding in You I was so impressed with his insightful way of explaining the deeper meaning of the "Lords Prayer" that I had to buy this book. I was enthralled with the depth of this book, simply amazing how "common sense" it is. It seems that sometimes we need to get out of ourselves in order to see the real picture. That is what this book does.

Anxious Disciple is an in-depth examination into Human Behavior. Using the gospel and the teachings of Christ, Mark is able to demonstrate how with just a few simple shifts in the way we think, we can drastically change our lifes. It is all in how we choose to see things and how we choose to deal with them. The lesson I learn was that it isn't always about you, sometimes it is just that, it is. But our ego clings to the belief that it happened to us because of us.

Mark's use of stories to illustrate these points are based in real life situations that anyone can relate to. Mills is very thorough in going deep into the human mind and heart in showing the way to live a life without the anxiety and stress. My favorite story is the scenario of the man who is laid off from his job. In the first scenario, the man takes the responsibility too seriously and through guilt and being self-absorbed,( this is the ego at work) affects his family. The trickle down affect of needless pain and suffering is shown all the way down to the children.

In the second scenario, the man realizes that this is not personal, that it was a company-wide layoff, and this event did not diminish his value as a man or father or husband was able to let go of any anger and accept the circumstances. By letting go and becoming detached from the outcome the man was able to start looking for the blessing within this situation. Rather than dwelling on the negative aspects of it, he focus on the positive aspects and this attitude trickle down through his family. Resulting in a more pleasant, peaceful, and productive outcome.

To summarize the book in one sentence, "Mark shows how by the choices we make, we control of lives." And he does a excellent job it doing it. A great guide for anyone needing a boost in getting back on track, Choose happiness!