Everyday Grace by Marianne Williamson

In the introduction, Williamson encourages us to embrace the mystic in ourselves, describing the mystic as a "spiritual practitioner, seeking not merely to understand the principles of spiritual awareness, but to embody them..." She states that she wrote Everyday Grace as a "traveling companion for the modern mystic" who is on the journey of personal transformation. Since "everything we encounter throughout the day is a spiritual opportunity" then we need tools along the way, which she describes as "spiritual principles." According to Williamson, "Our spiritual victory lies in rising above the mental forces of fear and limitation...thus attaining the power to heal and be healed." That appears to be the destiny when we embark on a journey as a mystic. We take love along with us, which "is a process as well as a goal."

As with the other books written by Williamson, the depth and analysis of spirituality seems to have no limits within her words. She is infinitely a mystic who goes miles beyond her own learning to impart her knowledge to others. Her books are remarkably easy to read considering the complex spiritual concepts she shares. Or perhaps the concepts are not as complicated as they appear, and Williamson makes these concepts easy to understand. The exception reads like a philosophical riddle: "You are not pretending that something is not really happening, but only that it is not Really happening... [because] only love is real."

Williamson is chagrined by the ambitions of humans on the material plane. She writes, "We don't need to push life so much as we need to experience it more elegantly, to be motivated more by inspiration than by ambition." Indeed, if inspiration means "the breath of God" then Williamson is urging us to breathe more deeply and move up on the ladder of faith. She urges readers to be less attached to the worldly objectives of career, competition, and capitalism.

Throughout the book, Williamson offers definitions for words used often in spiritual journeys, such as "enlightenment" which she says is: "being in touch with where we are and being willing to learn what God would have us learn from it." According to Williamson, "anything negative that happens has only one purpose; to foster compassion in the human heart." Williamson would like to see "our generation turn love into a social force" that experiences active compassion for the suffering. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in delving into the principles of a spiritual journey. I read and re-read Marianne Williamson as often as possible, always learning something else with each reading. ( )

A nice quick read, but kind of felt like a throwaway book because it was somewhat of a superficial treatment of spirituality for every day life. ( )

The preachy tone of this one managed to annoy me but it had some interesting ideas. Even though the cover implies an inclusiveness it's a very very christian book, so I'd probably give it a 2.5, maybe a 3 for some of the ideas about living a thoughtful life but for the inclusive implication it gets a 2.

All about finding grace in the everyday and being at peace with it all. ( )