Mind at Peace

Crisol #15

by Christopher O. Blum

These past two decades, modern technology has brought into being scores of powerful challenges to our interior peace and well-being. We’re experiencing a worldwide crisis of attention in which information overwhelms us, corrodes true communion with others, and leaves us anxious, unsettled, bored, isolated, and lonely.

These pages provide the time-tested antidote that enables you to regain an ordered and peaceful mind in a technologically advanced world. Drawing on the wisdom of the world’s greatest thinkers, including Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas, these pages help you identify – and show you how to cultivate – the qualities of character you need to survive in our media-saturated environment.

This book offers a calm, measured, yet forthright and effective approach to regaining interior peace. Here you’ll find no argument for retreat from the modern world; instead these pages provide you with a practical guide to recovering self-mastery and interior peace through wise choices and ordered activity in the midst of the world’s communication chaos.

Are you increasingly frustrated and perplexed in this digital age? Do you yearn for a mind that is more focused and a soul able to put down that IPhone and simply rejoice in the good and the true? It’s not hard to do. The saints and the wise can show you how; this book makes their counsel available to you.

Genres: Catholic, Psychology, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Self Help

194 pages, Paperback

Published September 29, 2017

Reviews

[Ramon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought the book was overrated. I went in expecting a book about how people over use technology and how we need to step back and find middle ground in order to find peace. However, I was very disappointed in the format and the content of the book. First, I thought the book was written as a paper written for a college class. The book had a lot of fluff and not much new content. In the introduction the author says he pulls thoughts from many speakers. However, the thoughts were quotes which did not help the book to flow. The book was filled with so many quotes and references to movies and other books. The author assumed that the reader knew all these speakers. For example, the author references the movie Walli which I did not see. He continued to use these kind of references to explain his ideas. These references gave me the impression that he did not know the subject but only regurgitating all these other speakers. He also did a bad job introducing these speakers to the readers. For example, he introduces Mother Theresa as a "diminutive Albanian nun." Each chapter described a virtue or a thought process but they were common sense. I felt that he should have offered more help or solution rather than telling me what I already know and how to put my mind at peace. The words he used were not normal everyday words which also led me to think his information was just stuff. The author made a reference to a piece of technology (GPS) which he felt "our awareness of our environment is shaped by trusting a GPS instead of taking time to study a map. Well let me tell you, I always had a hard time with maps and I think the GPS is great. The time saved allows you to do other things instead "of studying a map." Once I get to my destination I can enjoy the environment. The book was a ramble of ideas with no cohesion and very little help to put my mind at peace.

[Gareth Magel · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf 10%. The reflection questions were just yes/no questions instead of inspiring me to action and change. I wanted to like it but it wasn't very interesting lol. Maybe I'll give it another try later.

[Florent · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best books written in the XXI century that I've ever read. (along with Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder). It often talks about Christianity, but it is not a book on why-you-should-be Christian. I'm not particularly religious, and I think that anyone, whatever are his beliefs, can appreciate the content of the book.

It's not a yet-another Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World book. It's waaaay more profound. It answers a lot of questions for people living in the XXI century, in an original but sensible way.
I can't summarise the book, go buy it and read it (it is quite short)!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is hard because there are parts of it that were really good, but it seemed to just ask a lot of questions and tell me about how bad technology is for our brain sometimes (I know!), but had little to offer in the way of practical suggestions. I also thought they used intentionally difficult language, was overly verbose, and the reflection questions were just worded pretentiously. It wasn't a bad book, I did discuss with a friend and we both got something out of it, so it wasn't a total bust... But if you've been working on interior peace for a while anyway this book may be be redundant.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all those who wondered, "Would St. Thomas Aquinas use an iPhone?" Well, actually this book deals more with how Aquinas would use an iPhone. For all Christians who are interested in how the classical Christian conception of the human person navigates the quickly evolving ecosystem of technology, this book will be a terrific guide and helpful resource.

Note: for those not familiar with some philosophical terms, you may have to read a bit slowly and thoughtfully, but you shouldn't find the scope of this book overwhelming.

[Fernando Ferrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profound but understandable

Great book.Every Chapter carefully linked to the rest of the book.With a theme dense and difficult It is explained in clear and simple language.

[Sarah Winslow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of thought-provoking questions. I'll come back to this one, hopefully with a discussion group.

Quality of writing did not stand up to a second reading. Still helpful as a spiritual inventory.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It's not that I was expecting it to be bad. It's that I didn't expect much to apply to me. I lead a relatively disconnected life. But each chapter focuses on and discusses virtues that apply to everyone. Technology is brought up when it's relevant but not as the main point of each section. The book is not very long, but each chapter ends with a few reflections that do take some time to digest. I'm going to keep this one and hopefully remember to reread it from time to time.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides phenomenal insight on the virtues and makes the reader reflect on what the nature of each virtue mentioned is, and why it is important to the 3 most essential functions of life in order to attain peace of mind: living well, sensing well, and thinking well. Each chapter ends with questions to reflect upon, so this book is best read slowly in order to squeeze every drop of wisdom out of it. I was awestricken to see how the virtues are so intimately interconnected, and how clearly even one deficit throws many smaller elements of these virtues off kilter. This book presented my faults on a silver plate, reeking of truth, and making my flaws evident to myself, but explaining why my faults manifest in the manner they do. Not only this, but this book also provides wonderful definitions that can come in handy and reflections from the saints on both the issues and virtues (depending on the chapter). Highly recommend if you’d like to learn about yourself and what peace truly is. This book makes that clear.

[John Hadley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good basic review of Catholic bases of morality. I liked the pace and segmentation though the wording chosen often muddied the point being made. I would recommend this as a tool to refresh understanding but not as a primer.

[Rachel Vryhof · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much tougher read than I initially anticipated. More akin to a philosophy class text than a digital detox self help book. I did this as a group study and we often had to read and reread the discussion questions to get an understanding of what was being asked, but lively discussion always ensued.

[Gary Emig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully thought provoking.

[CMerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this would be more about getting rid of technology as a distraction, but its much more than that. Really a book about ordering your life and rooting it in prayer. Very good and readable.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this book a bit tedious and that the authors were trying to use higher language than they needed to for this kind of content. They also threw in so many unnecessary quotes to get their point across and it felt all over the place and hard to follow at times.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really helpful! This was a book I grew great joy from reading. I took my time to read, reflect and absorb all it had to teach me. Not only did this help me understand what peace is and looks like, but in how many areas of my life I don’t meet the mark in attaining peace. The three categories: living well, sensing well, thinking well were grouped appropriately and i think served as an excellent formula for explaining the foundations on how peace can be fostered. It was cool to be reminded of other people close to me who possessed virtues that I did not, and see specifically which virtues I was more natural at doing. I think this book gives a good perspective of where you stand, and where can improve, but it also did so much more! The insights were incredible. The references of the saints, the specific excerpts that were placed just before the reflection questions were extremely eye opening, lacing together the chapter quite nicely. Another thing is the definitions he gives are top-tier. I’ve already referenced this book three times since I’ve read it. Well done.