Book group was held at Mary Sanz home and there a total of 5 of us there, Marylib, Saran, Libby, Maddy, and Mary. It was a thorough and delightful discussion ranging from how admirable the spiritual leaders are to diversity in Fort Collins to altruism to our freedom to respond not react. We all felt the book was well organized and we all did have our own interpretations and favorite parts, and yet it had the potential to change each one of us. Maddy felt the book was practical, that it was helpful for everyday life. Saran and Libby mentioned that in the beginning they were thinking it was "just another one of those books" but were pleasantly surprised to find the richness of knowledge and intelligent discussion throughout the book. Someone mentioned that the book brought up that we are all one humanity, Libby saying that UBUNTU was her favorite concept, that all humanity was connected as one, that "a person is a person through other persons". Everyone has something to grapple with. We talked about the ability to "fake it until you make it."
Marylib felt the book had a lot of good lessons that were presented simply and were reaffirming of life. She was particularly taken by those in the book who came out so positive and full of compassion after horrible prison terms. Maddy felt that meditation is not necessarily the answer. It is how we respond to our world, and we do have control over that. Maddy said what you put out is what you get. Marlib particularly was taken by the anger chapter and we discussed that anger has such historical significance, but that these men have some answers in how to control that anger.
Saran liked the parts talking about controlling real fear, frustration, and suspicion of others and fear of rejection. Others brought up that changing perspective is so important in getting along in the world. The Dali Lama says, for every event in life there are many different angles. Emotions are there, emotions are real, but changing our perspective is relatively easy. We need to step back.
Libby put out some thoughts that she had while reading the book, that the reason we read stories of difficult situations in this book group, about Cambodia, Pakistan, World War 2, and others we have read, is that the struggles are universal. These are stories of how others face adversity, of how these people survived, how did they come out of a loathsome situation, and what did it do to their spirit. Difficult stories are often uplifting, even joyful, because we read about the triumph of the human spirit in horrible situations. Libby loves the quote from Abrams' father about a painful health situation, "It's all part of my curriculum." !
