Spirit Matters - Hardcover

Lerner, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 157174195X ISBN 13: 9781571741950

Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing, 2000

Synopsis

The author points out that those who can take spirituality seriously in their personal lives but who have not yet realized that thier spirtual practice could be the basis for a fundamental transformation of the world. The book shows how deeply we have been hurt personally, emotionaly, ecologically, and politicallly by living in a world that systematically represses our spirtual needs andhow we might creat a personal life and society that emboidies more spirituality that affirms that there is enough of the joy that could be building blocks in getting our lives together.

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Reviews

A comprehensive manifesto calling for the development of a socially and environmentally responsible spirituality. Tikkun editor Lerner (Jewish Renewal, 1994) is a former Clinton guru who helped develop the ill-fated Politics of Meaning some years back. Here he tries to hit the comeback trail with this earnest, long-winded, radical attempt at giving American society some spiritual CPR--an effort sorely in need of details, parables, or (at the very least) a sense of humor. Lerner anticipates a great spiritual awakening in our millennium, after which market profits will no longer dictate the cultural bottom line. Instead, a GNP of spiritual happiness, oneness with our creator (and creation), social responsibility, and goodness will transform our institutions and prevail throughout our noncompetitive globe. The idols of amoral scientism and unchecked greed will be toppled. The lubricant for this messianic world will not be religion: the organized religions, in Lerner's view, peddle a reactionary spirituality that is given to veiling women and circumcising men. Lerner's God, on the other hand, is the force of healing and transformation in the Universe, and his emancipatory spirituality will challenge the male chauvinism that objectifies women. Too many of Lerner's fine sentiments and proposals (for sharing resources equitably, forcing corporations and nations to be accountable for social and environmental sins, and reforming law and education) are hortatory rather than specific, and his spirituality in general has too many syllables to catch fire. His treatise is so warm and fuzzy that the bibliography is called Supportive Reading (although Lerner is not shy about plugging his own magazine ad nauseam). This ambitious and worthy effort would be far more effective if told in a voice that was less shrill and more eloquent. But that would require a different author. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Lerner, psychotherapist, rabbi and editor of Tikkun magazine, strongly feels that people subconsciously realize that they have closed off their sense of spirituality, and that they long for deeper meaning. He calls for this hunger to be openly recognized, with humanity working toward a global "Emancipatory Spirituality." Emancipatory Spirituality proclaims a recaptured awe of the universe, affirms the equal worth of every human being and promotes the healing and transformation of the world. It connects people to the "oneness of all being," embracing our innate sense of play, creativity and intellectual capabilities. Spirit matters, Lerner says, and denial of this fact leads to fractured personal lives, an alienated society and the unhealthy treatment of our environmental resources. His theoretical arguments are compelling and well considered, particularly as he traces the history of the horrors we have reaped from collectively denying the Spirit, and readers will no doubt appreciate his exercises in becoming more open to the Spirit. Unfortunately, Lerner's arguments on how to implement the needed focus on the Spirit in vocations such as medicine, education and law often fall short of reality and practicality, sounding shallow and glib. While he may be correct in arguing that individuals should remain open to the Spirit made manifest in their lives, he neglects to acknowledgeAor prescribe a cure forAthe large numbers of people who may not care to do so. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 157174195X
• ISBN 13: 9781571741950
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256