God Is No Laughing Matter: Observations and Objections on the Spiritual Path

Rating:
Summary: GOD DEVELOPS THROUGHOUT MS. CAMERON'S SPIRITUAL PATH
Review: From this book to the follow-up PRAYERS FROM A NONBELIEVER: a story of faith, you can read through out the development of Ms. Cameron's faith/spiritual and influence on her work/writing journey. Every book she writes is a journey of the Path. You don't have to be a believer nor a doubter. Each both speaks from her heart to yours. Try reading these two and you will broaden your horizons.

Rating:
Summary: This is the first book I ever threw in the trash
Review: I don't know...but by the title I expected an uplifting, refreshing, original series of thoughts from a very popular artist/writer. What I got instead was a series of negative slaps at countless types of spiritual paths. I am someone who reads a book from cover to cover...well I guess I can abandon that statement now. I tried to read straight through this book but got so sick of each chapter being devoted to making you feel as though by doing nothing toward your spiritual goals you are doing just fine (which is a lovely thought if it ended there) however if you should (God forbid!) be a vegetarian, or do yoga then somehow you are a freak and a phony. She continually refers to these horrible "Spiritual People" as if they (whoever the heck they are) are Nazis. I tried skipping chapters but the theme stayed the same. I finally gave up.
I treasure all books and always think about who the appropriate person will be to receive the book when I am finished (if I'm not keeping it for my own library) so throwing it in the trash so no one else will read it is a big deal.
In fact I was so frustrated by this book I wrote my first review.

Rating:
Summary: Lighten Up for Better Spiritual Connections!
Review: Ms. Cameron gives an excellent introduction to this book when she says, "You may not find this book you hold in your hands very spiritual -- but you'll probably find it spirited." She has tried to make the book "hardheaded, softhearted, and playful." For example, in one section she wonders if God likes to cha-cha. Some may find her approach irreverent, but I found it informal rather in a way that will make spirituality more accessible to those who spirits are already burdened. For me, the book was very successful and expanded my spiritual awareness.

The book is organized into a series of brief essays, sometimes combined with excellent poems, and followed with experiments, exercises and/or explorations. Each of these sections could have easily been expanded into a whole book. So there is enough material here to keep you spiritually engaged for years. I did a number of exercises and found them to be both helpful and inspiring. Many of these exercises provide ways to recapture your spirituality by better connecting to what is going on around you. As she points out, since we have left rural living, we have become disconnected from nature . . . which normally serves to keep us spiritually grounded.

Ms. Cameron has been through some pain in her life, which she shares openly. She often disputed what her teachers had to say in parochial school, and spent lots of time in the principal's office as a result. At 29, she was divorced. Now, she is a sober alcoholic. So her advice to lighten up comes from someone who knows the heavier sides of life quite well.

To me, the best part of the book is the magnificence of a single summary phrase that she embeds in every essay . . . that totally encompasses the essay. For example, she likens coming closer to God in "Blind Date" to having to "suit up and show up" as you would to start off a blind date. In "Higher Companions" she introduces you to "believing mirrors." In "Kindness" she tells you that "good is present and active." In "Dope-Dealer God" you are encouraged to "ask for some help." "Family" is expressed as "I believe in helping hands." "Faith" is "oversold" because "Saints commit." In "Parent Bashing" she points out that "Honoring our lineage honors ourselves." I wrote down one or two such phrases from each essay, and will keep them with me to remind me how to rekindle my spirituality. These phrases are great gifts within a great book.

The book is neatly summarized in her final poem, "Roots and Wings." She asserts that all of our various spiritual practices have more in common than we realize.

"The listening heart is home.

If you take that word apart,

You'll find it's built on 'om.'"

(The "om" reference is to the sound that many use during meditation in Eastern methods of connecting to God.)

"We -- each of us -- are traveling

Our own way back home,

We are all unraveling

The mystery of 'om.'"

I especially enjoyed this book for exposing many of my assumptions about God and spirituality that I had never examined before. I suspect that I am one of those people who takes this whole area a little too seriously for the good of my own spirituality.

After finishing the book, I walked out to discover a magnificent sunset that pointed me in the direction home. That experience was clearly a message to me that I will heed for some time to come. As Ms. Cameron says in "Conscious Contact," "we just need to be more open."

After you have finished this book and done its exercises, experiments and explorations, I encourage you to write an essay like one of these that expresses your inner sense of spirituality. Include your own exercises at the end. Then share what you have written with a friend. Hopefully, the friend will later do the same for you.

Have a wonderful spiritual journey!