Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

No Fear Mysticism

Walk into any Barnes & Noble and it won’t be long before you’re confronted with rows and rows—and rows—of self-help books, all different and yet all the same. They’ll usually have covers with a blown-up torso-up shot of their respective authors, arms crossed, sporting an immensely self-satisfied pearly white grin, or at the very least a knowing, penetrating look. They’ll almost certainly have titles which include colons, such as–and I’m now culling from a random selection of books that have been published within the past few months–“Playing Big: Find Your Voice, Your Mission, Your Message,” “Goals Suck: Why the Obsession with Goal-Setting is a Flawed Approach to Productivity and Life in General” (note that this author is making a valiant effort to be different), “Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative,” and on and on. There are also often numbers involved, because steps are comforting. Joel Osteen is the king of these—“Your Best Life Now Study Guide: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential,” “Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day,” etc. Even “Religion” and “Theology” sections of bookstores seem to have been encroached upon by this insidious book breed, so much so that I’ve often seen about one hundred titles like, “Sow and Grow: Planting God’s Word and Manifesting a Breakthrough” and only two or three of the spiritual classics a la Thomas a Kempis’s “The Imitation of Christ” or Augustine’s “Confessions”—and those tucked hastily into a corner. Continue Reading »

MOOCs, Books, Kooks and Federalist 10

Coursera woos me to MOOC through my college email.  I haven’t succumbed yet, but only because they haven’t offered anything interesting enough.  I signed up for one course on logic, but backed out after clarification over the goal of the course which was to prove through logic . . . . Continue Reading »

No, Please, Anything but God.

Andrew Ferguson informs and amuses at The Weekly Standard about that other orthodoxy in, “The Heretic: Who is Thomas Nagel and why are so many of his fellow academics condemning him?” It is longish, but I liked it and for possibly unnatural reasons, thought some of you might like it, . . . . Continue Reading »

We’re Not Listening — Lilla and Levin

I read two articles yesterday about how little the Left and Right listen to each other.  One is thoughtful, by Yuval Levin in The Weekly Standard , ” The Real Debate “, Each party is pulled into this debate by what it sees as the deeply misguided views of the other. Democrats . . . . Continue Reading »

Who Needs You?

The interesting thing about writing on a blog with men is that the woman writing knows that some things that concern them are incomprehensible to her and that some things she will write about will be incomprehensible to them.  I never feel so sensitive about that as when I want to write about . . . . Continue Reading »

Aurora Colorado Mayhem

We take sympathy and sorrow for granted when people die in circumstances like the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting . Unfortunately, we can also take for granted that a chorus of voices in favor of gun repression, as if the availability of guns inspires mass murderers. You’ll hear all . . . . Continue Reading »

Fifty Shades of Summer Reading

That book series!  John Presnall writes about it below.  I have something to add to the discussion. I am on the board of our county public library.  There was a bit of controversy at a board meeting over this book and the genre called Gray Romance.   Yes, it’s selling . . . . Continue Reading »

The Great Tension We Face

“I met some kids in Thailand who worked on the street in a red-light district, and they sold flowers.  They were going in and out of these brothels.  That was the first place I felt like I came alive in the law and what I wanted to do.” Gayle Trotter: This is Gayle . . . . Continue Reading »

Tags

Loading...

Filter First Thoughts Posts