Synopsis
God is capable of creating such perfection and splendor and must have a great plan and a purpose for us. Well, he does; he wants to reveal that purpose to us and to show us the way out of the pain, the sorrow we have brought on ourselves (self-inflicted wounds) from rejecting his ways. Perception is what determines how we believe; if our perception is wrong, we believe in error because perception is not always reality. Love is the cause that effectively affects people, but sometimes, we go in circles because we can't see the path. And sometimes, it's just because we believe we are smarter than the average bear, and we tell ourselves it is what it is, but this stems from self-inflicted wounds that are often initiated by dictated living, things you didn't see because you were too busy looking. In some cases, vanity might be the reason greed did not reveal the deception that was at work because we might have been in a state of "Hurry up and wait." Selfishness is the syndrome that misleads or deceives most often. If we learn to trust in God's plan, we learn to live a life of integrity and develop a giving spirit; we learn to forgive as we learn to be servants. In the end, we learn that love is life's only true satisfaction.
Review
"No Reflection: Are You Who You Thought You Were? By Christopher Johnson is an introspective religious and spiritual book. It contains many quotes from the Bible as well as quotes from famous people and some other religious figures with thoughts connecting it. Each chapter in the book covers a topic, such as love and forgiveness and then they all follow the same formula of having different quotes and speculation on these quotes. Johnson mentions in the book that his work is the result of conversations with different people in his life and his thoughts on these quotes.
Johnson's work is interesting. He has quotes followed up with statements that are thoughts on these subject matters. The thoughts connecting these quotes are not always religious, some of them are statements referring to life, but the bulk of them are religious. In addition to quotes, there are topics for each chapter, and some contain metaphors. The metaphors, connecting quotes and thoughts are well done and seamlessly flow into one another. I quite enjoyed the vampire metaphor a lot. It fits into what the author was doing with that chapter perfectly, and I never thought of why vampires cannot go into the sunlight before, but his explanation of it made sense and fit so well with the text. Another analogy I greatly enjoyed was the tortoise and the hare. Johnson relates this to life and states that some are fast to separate but slow to come together, and I found that I agreed with that to a point.
I think for some, this book could be controversial, more specifically the parts addressing homosexuality. I personally do not agree with the sentiments made. I think when making claims similar to these, it would have been nice to have other sources other than Bible quotes and quotes from people that back up thoughts to make it more balanced. Without the balance, it comes off more as a strictly religious text. I do not think Johnson is intending to be biased, but I would have enjoyed other sources with similar statements.
Some of it seems contradictory at times too. For instance saying that God does not have a part in everything because He gave us free will and does not pull all the strings in everything, but then stated God supplies our money. But from the text, it would seem if we choose to work to make money, then we are supplying money through choice. Definitely a mind bender! The book is definitely thought-provoking at times, such as the chapter on forgiveness. That was an interesting read.
Overall, I liked the book. I would recommend this book to those who are open to religious talks, as the book felt like a church sermon in each chapter, or those who are of Christian faith. I am open to seeing others' perceptions and thoughts who are different from my own, so it was an engaging read and food for thought." Literary Titan
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