Eat Pray Love

Before I left for St. Catharines, I read on Kathy's blog about the book "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert and thought that it would make a great belated birthday present for my mom. So, on the day we were to travel down to St. C. in the morning I dragged James to a bookstore and we picked it up. We gave it to her shortly after we arrived and then I promptly took it and read it! Nice gift eh?

It's a book about how the author gets from a bad place in her life to a better place. It's well written and VERY funny (I read my mom a lot of the funny bits:) The techniques she uses to get out of depression and sorrow are good ones. There were some useful things that can be used in day-to-day life to make things more peaceful. It is important to get your mind quiet and still to hear God, to remove obstacles to letting God fill you, to feel and receive God's love, to be obedient to help people God puts in your path, taking care of yourself, praying to God and listening to God.

The aspect of God she really needed to get her through the rough time was the Love aspect. So, in looking at God's person it was a bit of a lop sided book because God is a lot more than that, though that is an important aspect of His person. He is also a God of justice and righteousness and many other things.

Someone in the book says that there are many ways to God. I have a problem with the looseness of this in that it was pretty silly for Jesus to bother dying on the cross for us if there were many other routes we could take. Spirituality can occur with or without Jesus. It can even occur in His name, but I would rather Know Him.

Matthew 7:21-23 (New International Version)
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Someone (maybe the same person) also tells her that God is so loving that heaven is love and that hell is also love (just how you get there is different-either you get there with good times or bad) because God is so wonderful and forgiving. But God is also just and people who don't want to be with Him in this lifetime likely don't want to be with Him in the next.

Luke 13:28"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.

The weeping and gnashing doesn't sound too lovey to me!

I wrote down this quote from her book:

Every religion in the world operates on the same common understandings of what it means to be a good disciple- get up early and pray to your God, hone your virtues, be a good neighbour, respect yourself and others, master your cravings. We all agree that it would be easier to sleep in, and many of us do, but for milennia there have been others who choose instead to get up before the sun and wash their faces and go to their prayer. And then fiercely try to hold on to their devotional convictions throughout the lunacy of another day. (p.175)

The 'fiercely try' sounds like what Dr. Phil would call 'white knuckling' it. And while at times in our lives I think it is required, I think God wants to get us to a place of peace and balance that what He stands for is so much a part of us, we can just rest in Him.

Overall, it was an interesting and fun read. I did enjoy it very much and I hope my mom will too!