I'm God; You're Not
Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
Flashes of insight—surprising, entertaining, inspiring—from one of the most creative spiritual thinkers in America.
"The goal of all spiritual life is to get your ego out of the way—outwit the sucker; dissolve it; shoot it; kill it. Silence the incessant planning, organizing, running, manipulating, possessing, and processing that are the ineluctable redoubts of the ego. Not because these activities are bad or wrong or even narcissistic … but because they preclude awareness of the Divine. To paraphrase the Talmud, God says, 'There ain't room enough in this here world for your ego and Me. You pick.’"
—from the Introduction
Tapping the experiences and wisdom of his career as a spiritual leader, Lawrence Kushner delights, surprises, challenges and inspires us. With his signature candor, wit and compassion, he helps us reconnect with the why and how of our spiritual lives. He encourages us to find new perspectives on the “life-stuff” that shapes them, and gently reminds us of the Source of it All.
These inspiring—often startling—insights will warm you during the dark times of your own doubts even as they brighten your quest for meaning, faith, identity, community—and holiness.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a breezy, accessible, and colloquial style, Kushner brings together excerpts from stories, reviews, essays, and speeches written during his 28 years as a congregational rabbi and his current tenure as scholar-in-residence at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. He has grouped the material into six categories: rabbi, Judaism, family, world, mysticism, and holiness. Although Kushner was educated as a Reform rabbi, he cites Orthodox and Conservative sources as well as a number of other traditional authorities. His interest in Jewish mysticism is a further indication of his deviation from the customary intellectual and spiritual sources of a Reform rabbi. Disguising the profundity of his thoughts by lighthearted presentation, Kushner tackles such complicated issues as the role of the rabbi, intermarriage, observance of the Jewish dietary laws, parent-child relationships, Jewish-Gentile differences, Kabbalah, prayer, and death. In each instance, his wisdom, his realism, and the sources he calls upon demonstrate the depth and perceptiveness of his approach to difficult problems. One essence of genius is to make complex issues simple. Kushner superbly passes this test.
