I tend to not write about religious things because, to be honest, I don’t find it moxie.  However, I feel compelled to discuss this latest craziness.  As many of you know (my “A New Earth” post is one of the most visited), Oprah chose a book for her book club that is stirring up a lot of controversy.  She also is conducting (with the author Eckhart Tolle) an 8-week webclass that has hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of students participating in this book’s study.

I was recently told to “be careful” since I was a student in this class and reading the book.  Why?  Well, it seems a few organizations, media outlets and churches are condeming Oprah for “sponsoring” this book. They’re claiming A New Earth is New-Age, un-Christian, full of lies and deceit and that Oprah is (and I quote) “the Anti-Christ… lying to millions of her followers so they will drop Christianity out of their own, confused lives.”

Really?  Wow.  That’s a strong statement.  So naturally, I did some digging and found a few interesting points.  The most watched “anti-Oprah” on YouTube regarding this book and her title as “Anti-Christ” is sponsored by some guy named Islm13.  It has over 5 million views.  This guy’s video was produced by a church claiming that all Christians need to unite against Oprah and Eckhart Tolle and to not be fooled by this “new-age”, “evil” book.  The interesting thing about his videos… they don’t slam Oprah just on the book.  They then make it political and say “she’s also supported Obama as President, which we all know is an evil Muslim who is destined to destroy America…“  REALLY?  Well, that right there told me that this is definitely politically-motivated… and when you get politics involved, truth and reality seem to be thrown out like garbage.

I searched all of the webcasts (again I’m a student taking this class every Monday night) and I found an interesting clip, from the mouth of Oprah herself (gasp!!!  Who would have thought to actually ask the source???)

Here it is… you decide.  Do you think Oprah is giving up her Christianity?  I sure don’t.  She states that her belief in God and Jesus are NOT JUST defined by the scriptures.  She doesn’t put God in a box.

One of the most viewed posts on my blog is of A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and Oprah’s webcast class.  I thought, since we’re half way through, it would be appropriate to discuss my journey with this book.

If I could grade myself on my perfomance with Oprah’s class as well as the book, I’d have to give myself a solid D.  Not good.  Here’s why:

Although I’ve downloaded every single class show (or I’ve watched it live on Monday nights), I’m still not past Chapter 3 (currently, we’re supposed to be on Chapter 7).  I can’t blame a busy schedule because there are several days in the week where I’m not extremely busy.  I can’t blame disinterest as well since I really do love this class and this book.  I’m not sure why I can’t get it together and get to Chapter 7.

One thing I do love about this book is the discussion of being in the present.  Something I personally suck at is always thinking about the past or the future.  I never truly live in the present.  And I can see, I’m grading myself a B on this since the book and the webclass have really made me begin to live presently.

So, this is my mid-semester grade I’m giving myself.  I hope to report a better grade in the next few weeks.

If you’re stil not reading the book or attending Oprah’s webclass, the information is below:

Monday Nights – Live webclass (for free) 8:00pm CST (go to www.oprah.com for more info)
The subject/book: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
* Download, for free, her webclasses every Tuesday on iTunes

Regardless of what you think of Oprah (personally, she’s one of my heroes), you can not deny her influence she has in the world especially when it comes to choosing books. I, myself, am not necessarily an avid book reader. My Mom is but I have never been. I will say, though, after watching Oprah’s show today, I can NOT wait to get a hold of her new book club’s choice — A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (click on the link to read more about it)

Why did I decide to write about this? Simple. Oprah announced today on her show that she will be holding her first ever web class regarding this book. She and author Eckhart Tolle will be conducting this web class for ten weeks (every Monday night) starting Monday, March 3rd, 2008.

The best part? Anyone around the world can reserve a “seat” in her interactive classroom. So sign up now. I really feel, in my soul, that this book and Oprah’s interactive class will literally change me from inside to outside. And let’s be REAL honest with ourselves… in this day and age, we need some spiritual enlightenment no matter how it comes.
So all I can ask you, my reader, is to just watch this short video that I recorded from Oprah.com’s website. She explains why this is her new book choice and why this book will literally transform our lives. I just purchased my copy on Amazon.com for $8!!! Here’s to reading this phenomenal book… check this other video out:

*note: this is an update to an older posting I wrote back in October on my myspace profile… I wanted this blog on my new website because this book was POWERFUL.  It still resonates with me.  Enjoy

The Beginning of My Journey. Eat Pray Love.

I watch Oprah on a daily basis as you all know… she had the author of “Eat Pray Love” on to discuss this 1 New York Times best seller book. I have never felt like I needed to read a book as badly as I did after watching this episode. It’s regarding a writer and her journey of spirituality and transformation while being at rock bottom so to speak. She was in a marriage with the big house, the white picket fence and she was making lots of money… but she wasn’t happy. God had other plans.

She then takes a 1 year journey on her spiritual quest to fix herself and starts in Italy where she learns to re-find pleasure in her life by EATING so she knows pleasure. She spends 4 months in Italy living the life of true pleasure and enjoying her favorite food, pasta.  She learns that when you EAT and feel pleasure, there’s nothing more basic in the universe.

She then goes to India for 4 months where she learns to PRAY and meditate and be silent so that she knows God.  She meets several spiritual leaders and realizes that every one she meets were sent to her by God for a lesson.  She learns that devotion is hard yet attainable.

She then ends in Bali (Indonesia) where she spends 4 months learning how to take pleasure (EAT) and devotion (PRAY) and mix them interchangeably and then finds her true LOVE. James bought this for me this morning (I don’t watch sports, ps, thus why I could care less about OU/TX weekend) and I’m already on Chapter 8. I am just in awe.

This lady literally writes that during her 4 months of prayer in India, she was in the “palm of God” and she spoke to Him. I can not wait to have that experience, in my own way.  So here’s to my new journey. I hope you continue to pray that I find myself and find God in a closer, more spiritual (NOT religious) way.  Go buy the book! It’s in all the stores as it’s been in the top 10 sales list for the last 9 months.

Peace,
Jeff