A nation or civilization that has a strong heroic ideal or vision of greatness cannot lose it without itself collapsing. As Americans, we are beginning to lose it. This book argues that we’ ve lost touch with our founding vision, our sense of purpose and direction, resulting in the sharp polarization splitting our nation apart today. We hear much talk about making America great again, but little about what this actually means. Does it mean economically great? Militarily great? Culturally great? Morally great? “ Portrait” explores our founders’ conception of greatness and their vision for America. Much can be borrowed from them for us to build upon.The world’ s old, us-vs.-them, enemy-oriented heroism derives its identity from fighting an enemy. It requires an adversary and is at a loss without one. A new, citizen-oriented heroism, by contrast, revolves around the citizen’ s responsibility to society and to other citizens. All are citizens of the world. There is a time and place for both kinds of heroism, but if we want a truly civilized world, we must choose the right one for the occasion. The old heroism must psychologically die within us in order for the new one to be born.
Michael Gellert is a Jungian analyst practicing in Los Angeles, California. He treats individuals and couples. He was formerly Director of Training at the C. G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles, where he is currently a research instructor. He has also been a humanities professor at Vanier College, Montreal, and a lecturer in religious studies at Hunter College of the City University of New York. Prior to living in Los Angeles he lived in New York City, where he managed District Council 37’s Personal Service Unit Outreach Program, an employee assistance program for the City of New York. Over the years he has served as a mental health consultant to various organizations, including the University of Southern California and Time magazine. Michael was born and raised in Montreal. He was educated in rabbinic Judaism, traveled overland from Europe to India at age 19, studied theology at Loyola College in Montreal, and trained with the renowned Zen master Koun Yamada in Japan for two years. He has master’s degrees in religious studies and social work and studied with Marshall McLuhan at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Modern Mysticism, The Way of the Small, America's Identity Crisis, The Divine Mind―the latter two each winning a Nautilus Book Award―Far From This Land, and Legacy of Darkness and Light: Our Cultural Icons and Their God Complex.
