I’m currently listening to a book on CD – not something I typically do. Ordinarily, I’m never in the car long enough for this to be a practical way for me to get lost in a story. And quite frankly, I find I prefer turning the pages of a good book to that of inserting the next CD.
Having said that however, recent changes in my job responsibilities has afforded me the benefit of a fair amount of windshield time and as a result, I am now experiencing a welcome change from the characteristically obsessive radio scanning I am so prone to.
This change in habitual behavior is proving to be quite interesting and ironically, particularly relevant to the book in question. For at the risk of oversimplification, this book is about forgoing one’s ego and awakening to the now.
The book is The New Earth - Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle.
Typically this would not be the genre I would normally pull off the shelf for myself and in fact, I began listening to this book not of my own desire but instead, because Beth asked me to. Having recently received it as a gift, she literally devoured it during a six hour trip to Georgia and its impact on her was obvious. So as I said, I began this book because she wanted me to.
The book is read by the author, thereby assuring any intended emphasis and inflection is not misapplied. As the first CD quietly began, I was immediately attracted by his accent – British enhanced German. By attracted, I mean interested; in both the tone quality as well as the applied sentence structure. In this context, I was reminded of one of our former priests, Father Andre Antao – a theological intellectual whose homily’s never failed to provoke sincere contemplation.
My interest now enhanced, I listened on until several minutes into the first CD, Tolle observed that not all were ready for the message of awakening. Those who were, would likely benefit from this book while those who were not, might consider it to be a waste of their time. I immediately wondered which of the two I might be and as his words continued, I found I was no longer listening because my wife wanted me to. Instead, I now wanted to.
I’m not yet finished with the book. I’m just beginning disk 4 of 6 and I do not know the impact it may or may not have on me. So far, I do find it interestingly telling in the sense I have “seen” myself in much of what he says – and what I’ve seen thus far isn’t always likeable. But then again, that which forces us to take an honest look in the mirror is likely to reveal those things which contradict the façade carried about in our day to day lives.
This I believe is an awakening.
Having said that however, recent changes in my job responsibilities has afforded me the benefit of a fair amount of windshield time and as a result, I am now experiencing a welcome change from the characteristically obsessive radio scanning I am so prone to.
This change in habitual behavior is proving to be quite interesting and ironically, particularly relevant to the book in question. For at the risk of oversimplification, this book is about forgoing one’s ego and awakening to the now.
The book is The New Earth - Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle.
Typically this would not be the genre I would normally pull off the shelf for myself and in fact, I began listening to this book not of my own desire but instead, because Beth asked me to. Having recently received it as a gift, she literally devoured it during a six hour trip to Georgia and its impact on her was obvious. So as I said, I began this book because she wanted me to.
The book is read by the author, thereby assuring any intended emphasis and inflection is not misapplied. As the first CD quietly began, I was immediately attracted by his accent – British enhanced German. By attracted, I mean interested; in both the tone quality as well as the applied sentence structure. In this context, I was reminded of one of our former priests, Father Andre Antao – a theological intellectual whose homily’s never failed to provoke sincere contemplation.
My interest now enhanced, I listened on until several minutes into the first CD, Tolle observed that not all were ready for the message of awakening. Those who were, would likely benefit from this book while those who were not, might consider it to be a waste of their time. I immediately wondered which of the two I might be and as his words continued, I found I was no longer listening because my wife wanted me to. Instead, I now wanted to.
I’m not yet finished with the book. I’m just beginning disk 4 of 6 and I do not know the impact it may or may not have on me. So far, I do find it interestingly telling in the sense I have “seen” myself in much of what he says – and what I’ve seen thus far isn’t always likeable. But then again, that which forces us to take an honest look in the mirror is likely to reveal those things which contradict the façade carried about in our day to day lives.
This I believe is an awakening.
