The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife
Product Description
The need for change as we get older—an emotional pressure for one phase of our lives to transition into another—is a human phenomenon, neither male nor female. There simply comes a time in our lives—not fundamentally different from the way puberty separates childhood from adulthood—when it’s time for one part of ourselves to die and for something new to be born. The purpose of this book by best-selling author and lecturer Marianne Williamson is to psychologically and spiritually reframe this transition so that it leads to a wonderful sense of joy and awakening. In our ability to rethink our lives lies our greatest power to change them. What we have called “middle age” need not be seen as a turning point toward death. It can be viewed as a magical turning point toward life as we’ve never known it, if we allow ourselves the power of an independent imagination—thought-forms that don’t flow in a perfunctory manner from ancient assum… More >>
The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife
There is one idea Marianne Williamson expresses in this book that I especially like. It’s the idea that in this day and age we have added more years to our lives — but those years are in the middle! What she means is that mid-life at this point in time is far more than just a transition from youth to old age. It has become a vibrant, powerful time that gives us the opportunity to leave our driven, desperate, ego-based lives behind, and truly heal ourselves — and heal the world in the process. No matter what your age, Marianne’s eloquence and passion will ignite a fire in your soul, filling you with a true desire to finally live your life the way it is supposed to be lived . . . with unconditional love, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness. I feel like I am living this book right now, and I highly recommend it.
Steven Lane Taylor, author of Row, Row, Row Your Boat: A Guide For Living Life In The Divine Flow
This book and Ms. Williamson’s philosophy/worldview is nothing new; witness the snake in the Garden of Eden telling our ancestors that “you shall be as gods…”; isn’t this exactly what Ms. Williamson is teaching?
Be careful, it’s nothing more than New Age, Spiritual Quackery!
Ms Williamson has made a career of identifying the scope and praxis of ‘fear’ in our contemporary moment. Identifying fear is a noble pursuit, but when it also comes at the expense of a political engagement which perpetuates fear tied to interminable war, covert strikes on children and other non-combatants, needs to be spoken despite our false beliefs. Ms. Williamson continues to advocate for a political praxis mired in a right of center politics. Most recently, she has publically supported the candidacy of Barack Obama who is now engaged in escalating the war in Afghanistan and asserting that between 50-70K troops will remain indefinitely in Iraq, along with covert drone missions dropping US munitions on non-combatants resulting massive loss of life of women and children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Furthermore, Obama named last week Cheney’s assassination general – McChrystal to take over command of the war efforts in Afghanistan presumably to insure that occupation and killing results in a more efficient body count.
I am just wondering if anyone else recognizes the contradictions to Ms. Williamson’s own fear based political agenda, while she refuses to acknowledge that only the Green Party calls for complete withdrawal of Afghanistan and Iraq without conditions? The Green Party is actually the Party supporting her call to exam `fear’ and act against it!
Chris Hedges recently published an article on Common Dreams (the progressive news wire) noting that: “fear means we will not ask unpleasant questions of those in power.”
I am wondering if Marianne will ever ‘own’ her own rhetoric and start walking her talk?
Marianne Williamson gives us, for the third time (if you count her other two books about A Course in Miracles, A Return to Love and The Gift of Change) a very superficial and watered down version of the Course. Marianne interprets the Course as if it were a New Age teaching in the style of Eckhart Tolle or Wayne Dyer. But it is not that at all. It’s an original masterpiece by Jesus that needs to be met on its level, not brought down to the level of pop spirituality. In order to really get what this Course is saying one should read the books of a great teacher and scholar like Dr. Kenneth Wapnick, or for a profound and mind-blowing rendition in the vernacular, the books of Gary Renard. Marianne does not do justice to the Course. This is not a personal put down. I’m sure she sincerely believes that she does. She just doesn’t.
The Age of Miracles: a review by Fran Brown
My first response to having read The Age of Miracles is compassion for the author. What needless pain she bares. She is so self-absorbed while writing of her concern to rid her mind of her consciousness (so that the mistakes of her past no longer come to mind) that she fails to realize she hasn’t changed. She is obsessed with the past as in fact she is with the fact that she is old (56).
She writes of event after event that is the “bitterness in our past”(p. 65) and how she has removed these from her consciousness; however she fails to demonstrate that she has attained her “inner peace” which is supposed to be the resultant of following her pathway. She still hates. She hates the work of world governments and says, “women will stop the suicidal work by the governments of the world” (p. 80).
Her attempt to justify her weaknesses, poor choices and ‘mistakes” by the use of the term forgiveness fails for it denies hurt, evil actions of her own and of others by “focusing on the innocence of their souls.” (p. 63). And “thus we free them from the weight of condemnation and we free ourselves as well.” Thus, there is no true forgiveness for, according to the author in her spin on forgiveness, the soul is innocent.
On punishment (another crisis item for her that she must spin to escape its truth) she fails to make a case. She exclaims that “we are punished by our sins, not for them.” Neat spin, but at least she acknowledges that man sins rather than just makes mistakes. She goes on, “God’s will is to correct our mistakes – not punish us for them.” (p 68) However, for some 3500 years or more the matter has been set forth clearly that God has established moral principles, which man is to know and obey. Failure to do so will be attended by God’s justice. This failure has led to death. As man has an innate propensity to sin, (to such and extent that all have sinned; none are righteous), there is only one way to escape God’s justice, which is to be justified in the eyes of God by accepting the offer made in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Repentance, confession and belief leads to the realization that God has transformed you, your heart, soul and you have passed over from death unto life. (Jn 5:24)
It is my prayer that Williamson come to know Christ and find the peace, the freedom, the true liberty that comes with living for Him. It is not about “me” but about loving God and others.
Williamson’s belief system is non Christian, indeed it is heretical. While espousing love over judgment, she harshly judges (with hatred) those who hold to a different belief system, especially political. While she teaches there are many pathways to life that are equally effective, Christianity as a way of life is not accepted by her. Why? Is it because God is in control of His universe, or that there are moral standards that are absolute – that murder and adultery begin in the heart?
Williamson attempts to justify her “mistakes” and abuses in life without facing God’s justice and without acknowledging the existence of God’s moral principles. So, like others who espouse cultic belief systems, to absolve themselves of unrighteous conduct now and in the past or in the future, they pick words and phrases that are familiar to many and then they proceed to spin the terms in order to lead the gullible down a vile pathway of a me-gospel belief system where man reigns; with the result that man/woman creates the chaos and “mistakes” of which she complains..
Williamson’s book is full of trite statements that are expressed as if they were original but are presented simply to soothe the itching ears of her readers – they get to hear what they want to hear. They are told that fear is the enemy. Williamson says that it is fear that keeps you from your greatness, from having inner peace. If you read Williamson (I read every page) you know she has no peace; certainly not peace with her Maker. And regardless of the spin she puts on life, she still has not justified her mistakes, sins. She misses the point. She never will be able to do so by her own efforts. The Way that she rejects, Christianity, has this to say that will surely help her.
“Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1-2.) With regard to the author’s concern for condemnation and fear, and fear of death, “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus … for …Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2