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This book invites us to wander around in the humanity we share and which we possess in a way no one else has experienced . . . and to sense that our self-story is integrated into a wider history. Who and what am I? How do I fit into all this?

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Introduction: So Many Dead-Ended Eyes(p. 11)
• 1. The Decline and Fall of the Soul(p. 23)
• 2. A Society Without a Soul(p. 45)
• 3. The Pursuit of Happiness(p. 69)
• 4. Myth: The Will to Meaning(p. 89)
• 5. Discovering a Self(p. 105)
• 6. Building Your Own Conscience(p. 129)
• 7. The Androgynous Soul(p. 145)
• 8. Making Sense of Suffering(p. 161)
• 9. Freedom(p. 177)
• 10. In Search of a Voice: Female Spirituality(p. 185)
• 11. The Grail Quest: Male Spirituality(p. 201)
• 12. Loving(p. 221)
• 13. Becoming Married(p. 241)
• 14. Forming the Soul of a Family(p. 261)
• 15. The Soul of the Earth(p. 275)
• 16. The Ultimate Mystery(p. 283)
• 17. Connecting with the Holy(p. 303)
• Endnotes(p. 313)
• Bibliography(p. 319)

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

A teacher of theology and English at Fordham Preparatory School in New York, O'Malley here offers readers an enthusiastic yet misleading course in attaining what everyone wants most‘‘happiness. "Happiness is not an emotional condition, any more than love is," writes O'Malley, summarizing the conclusion reached by many religious and philosophical thinkers. "We want not just to feel happy but to have a reason to be happy." O'Malley makes the useful observation that true happiness requires feeling "at home" with oneself, other people and various communities. True security, he contends, cannot depend on any condition or attribute outside ourselves, but comes "only when we possess and are content with our selves, confident enough to face whatever comes." All this is well and good, but O'Malley summarizes and quips his way into some egregious errors. Most problematic is his equation of the quest for peace (as in Eastern religions) with Freud's "death wish," or the "drive toward being unbothered." In fact, the Buddhist quest for inner peace is a starting point for radical openness and connection with others. Also disturbing is O'Malley's nostalgic claim that America was an "altruistic community" prior to the assassination of JFK. Perhaps intending to be succinct, the author can be flip, as when he dismisses euthanasia while scantingthe issue of chronic pain. The profoundly practical material that O'Malley does offer is poorly served by these hasty generalizations and ill-considered judgments. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

William J. O'Malley has published 28 books and nearly 100 articles on spirituality and challenging people to live richer lives than they had been willing to settle for. A teacher for 35 years, currently at Fordham Preparatory School in New York, he has also taught at Boston College, Georgetown, Loyola-Marymount, and in Australia and England.