Posts Tagged ‘Bestselling Book’

Malcolm Gladwell describes thin-slicing as the main topic of his bestselling book “Blink”.  Thin-slicing is an interesting concept and the term is most frequently used in philosophical and psychological areas.  What is thin-slicing?  Well basically it is the capacity of people to unconsciously identify patterns in experience based on very brief times when it occurred.  In other words, brief slices of experience unconsciously reveal a pattern of behavior to the observer.

Why is this important when we discuss life growth strategies?  One of the concepts covered here is the idea of intuitive knowing and thin-slicing would seem to indicate that some of what we call intuition is based upon experience – even if we do not realize it.

Although it is a valuable concept thin-slicing does not fully explain intuition.  Many Christians dismiss the concept of intuition as something relegated to psychics and unredeemed man.  I personally think this is a simplistic response born more of fear than the leading of the Lord.  Proverbs 14:12 in the Bible states: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.  Closer examination will reveal that this is talking about reasoning and the rational aspects of the mind and not intuition.

Intuition is a capacity that God has given to mankind for a purpose related to His plan for us.  This verse from Job 38:36, “Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart”? is translated, “Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind”? in the New Living Translation.  This latter translation seems to more fully reveal the gist of what is being said.

Someone once asked, “how do you know God is real?” and my response was something like, “I don’t know I just know”.  In my opinion faith is intuitive.  If you will open yourself to the possibility you will find that God is real.

An Examination of Rhonda Byrne’s Bestselling Book “The Secret” by Ed Gungor

Rhonda Byrne recently released a new book entitled, The Power, but a few years back she released The Secret which had enormous popularity.  In a previous post Jinky did a review and in this post I want to draw attention to a little book that addresses many of the concerns a lot of people had with The Secret.

Basically Rhonda Byrne said in The Secret that the Law of Attraction is the secret to a happy and prosperous life. Ed Gungor in There Is More to the Secret, examines The Secret and the Law of Attraction from a Christian perspective.  He does not dismiss the  Law of Attraction but instead states that Rhonda Byrne and the other contributors to The Secret did not go far enough.  In other words, there are some negative aspects to this Law.

“Among his strongest arguments is that even assuming that the Law of Attraction works, if different people are all using it on their own behalf at the same time, some of the things people wish for may be cancelled out (suppose, for example, that two different people imagine getting the same rare item at an auction, or are competing for the same job). “ – reviewer

Another reviewer said,” this is now one of my favorite “Law of Attraction” books. Clearly there can be two very opposing sides on the subject of the Law of Attraction and Christianity but Ed Gungor takes a very balanced, albeit ultimately Christian, view. It was gratifying to know that he isn’t out to discredit “the law of attraction,” but to explain how there is a Biblical connection. It is unfortunate that the Law of Attraction, once the domain, as it were, for people already into alternative ways of thought anyway, such as massage therapists, Reiki practitioners, chiropractors, yoga practitioners, etc., has now almost become anathema to those who could richly benefit from it and sends up a red flag to many. “

This vocal reviewer had this to say,”From the beginnings of Dale Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale on down to the present, I have read countless versions of “positive thinking” and “believing it makes it so” versions of the self-help movement. I have had no better and certainly often no worse luck than anyone else on the human journey, but I long ago came to believe that the real “secret” to all of these books (and now CDs and DVDs) is the profit it brings to the authors. The Bible is really not that clear on “ask, believe, receive” as to what you receive – and as every realistic, believing person knows, sometimes the answer is “no.” Taking these things literally can be devastating. Everyone is looking for the easy way out and some mind-game to create the life of our dreams. I still think there aren’t any substitutes for hard work, good judgment, and a little bit of luck along the way. When “The Secret” was really all the rage, I decided to give it whirl since it was a while since I had delved into this genre, having found it wanting in the past as to really changing my life. The dang disc broke my DVD player, which was almost new, so what do you make of that? I am foolish enough to admit that I have put up the dollar bill with $1,000,000 written on it; I have written “checks” for items I visualized coming into my life and stuck them on my refrigerator. I feng shui’d the “love” corner of my home only to have the object of my heart tell me he met someone else. I am not cynical and I believe a positive attitude and a sense of gratitude throughout life tends to make the world go ’round a little better. While I often have not received things I “want” I have had many unexpected blessings I didn’t even ask for. I am amazed that people do not realize that most of these things – while perhaps containing a modicum of common sense positive attitude – are designed to make money for the promoters. I know some people swear by the miracles they have experienced but I don’t know anyone personally who has ever drastically altered their lives by following these self-proclaimed gurus. I know it all falls into the realm of free speech, but that doesn’t mean the rest of have to be gullible and line the pockets of what used to be referred to as “snake oil salesmen.”

Check out this book by Ed Gungor.  You don’t have to read The Secret first – if you are interested just google the term and you will get the jest of it.  Order here