What book are you currently reading?

[Mike Furley]

What book are you currently reading? Is it for class, work, or pleasure? Who's the author and what is it about? Would you recommend it? If you currently aren't reading anything, post about the last good book you've read.


I am currently reading several books at the same time. The one I'm closest to finishing is The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis. It is regarded as a spiritual classic, and I think its from the middle ages but I'm not sure about the date.

My priest recommended I read it, and now that I am well into it, I find myself asking why my priest recommended it. There isn't anything groundbreaking in it. It's kind of a manual on how to live and if it didn't have the title it has, it could easily be mistaken for any other self-help type book. I find parts of it to be contradictory, and I suppose if your looking for guidance and personal growth, this is as suitable as any other you could find.

[goblue]

What book are you currently reading? Is it for class, work, or pleasure? Who's the author and what is it about? Would you recommend it? If you currently aren't reading anything, post about the last good book you've read.


I am currently reading several books at the same time. The one I'm closest to finishing is The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis. It is regarded as a spiritual classic, and I think its from the middle ages but I'm not sure about the date.

My priest recommended I read it, and now that I am well into it, I find myself asking why my priest recommended it. There isn't anything groundbreaking in it. It's kind of a manual on how to live and if it didn't have the title it has, it could easily be mistaken for any other self-help type book. I find parts of it to be contradictory, and I suppose if your looking for guidance and personal growth, this is as suitable as any other you could find.

I'm currently reading "A program for you." It's a guide to the big book's design for living. The big book is the book that they use at aa meetings. The authors are unknown. It's for pleasure and personal growth. If you have a drinking problem or know anyone who does, I would recommend it. But as you said about your book, much of it is a design on how to live and the human condition. It really could apply for everyone.

Example: pg 99 - People get angry when their instinctive needs for social belonging and acceptance (including self-esteem, pride, and nurturing relationships), security (both emotional and material) and sexual relations (both hidden and material), are threatened. In almost every case, we've found that one or more of these basic life issues that define our sense of self, including our ambitions, have been interfered with in some way. We can list these issues for use in completing column three (affects my) as: 1. self-esteem 2. pride 3. personal relationships 4. material security 5. emotional security 6. acceptable sexual relations 7. hidden sexual relations 8. ambitions.

pg 101 - That's the way the two of us used to think. We would blame others, get sore and stay sore, and sooner or later we'd get sore at ourselves, to boot. Then we'd retaliate and try to get our own way, but that would just make things worse. So we'd replay those resentments over and over, wasting our time and our lives over them-and making ourselves sick and miserable in the process. The strange things about all those resentments is that they don't do anyone any good. They don't make anyone money. They don't straighten up a relationship with another human being. They don't increase anyone's confidence or serenity or security or happiness. They only make things worse. There was a time when both of us spent much of our waking lives being angry at other people. Whether we were drinking or sober, we spent hour after hour replaying our resentments over and over. That time we spent was absolutely wasted.

pg 104 - So we've seen that resentments must be mastered-but how? We can't wish them away any more than we can wish away our addiction to alcohol or other drugs. You should pray for the people that you resent. Now, granted, this might not be easy, and it certainly won't be something you want to do. But remember what the big book said earlier-that recovery means the destruction of self-centeredness. The only reason that it's hard to pray for somebody you're mad at is because your self-centeredness is in the way. But even if praying for someone you resent is the hardest thing in the world, you're better off praying for someone you can't stand than ending up drunk or stoned because of your resentment. Not only should you pray for the person or thing you resent, but you should pray that he, she or it receives everything you want for yourself. If you don't mean it, do it anyway. Do this once a day, every day, for two weeks, no matter what happens. At the end of two weeks, we believe your resentment and anger will be gone, and compassion and understanding will have taken their place.

Other good books I've read are "America the last best hope" volumes 1 and 2 by dr. William J. Bennett. "Deliver us from evil" by Sean Hannity. "How America got it right" by Bevin Alexander. I would recommend all of these books. Another one that I'm interested in getting is "The 10 big lies about america" by Michael Medved.

[rickyleach]

i dont read i just look at the pictures, no really though i just read some bill o ry, he is great ....

[gator]

What do we say if we're currently writing a book?

Just a little dissertation humor.:D

Lightning: RF Electric Fields and X-rays.....in case anyone is interested.