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Publisher:
Cook Communications Ministries |
Release
Date: September 2003 |
ISBN:
0781439426 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Softcover |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) |
Genre:
Nonfiction - Spirituality/Psychology |
Reviewed:
2003 |
Reviewer:
Kristin Johnson |
Reviewer
Notes: Kristin Johnson, the founder of PoemsForYou.com,
will release her second book, CHRISTMAS COOKIES ARE FOR GIVING,
co-written with Mimi Cummins, in September 2003. Visit www.tyrpublishing.com
to pre-order. Her third book, ORDINARY MIRACLES: My Incredible
Spiritual, Artistic and Scientific Journey, co-written with
Sir Rupert A.L. Perrin, M.D., will be published by PublishAmerica
in 2004. |
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The
Prayer of Revenge
By Doug
Schmidt
With
all the hate speech between liberals and conservatives and with
Michael Moore, Al Franken et al. damning President Bush for the
devil while Ann Coulter and Michael Savage lambaste anyone who dares
to listen to Pacifica Radio, you get the impression that nobody
will ever recover from the grievous wrongs each side has supposedly
done the other, America, God and the world. This all-out hate leads
to last-minute sexual harassment accusations in the California recall,
a desperate move by Democrats. Do you think Ah-nold plots his revenge,
as in "Hasta la vista, baby," delivered with an Uzi? Or
is Ah-nold's success the best revenge?
Maria
Shriver should give hubby Ah-nold a copy of Doug Schmidt's The
Prayer of Revenge: Forgiveness in the Face of Injustice. Perhaps
she's already read it and followed the unique teachings in the wake
of those last-minute allegations. By his heartfelt apologies, Ah-nold
has made restitution, as Schmidt advises, before bringing his enemies
to task for the conspiracy to Terminate him. And Gray Davis? Well
he
comes off as badly as Nabal, who dared to cross David-as in David
and Goliath. But David didn't take revenge. In fact, the slingshot-wielding
hero waits until the Psalms of Rage in the King James Version of
the Bible to call upon the wrath of God to smite the wicked. But
this is only after David has exhausted all earthly justice, and
he does not turn against his enemies or his duty to God the way
the Unmerciful Servant, forgiven what was in Biblical times a California-sized
debt by his master, turns against another servant (robbing Peter
to pay Paul).
One of the
most interesting aspects of parental abuse survivor Doug Schmidt's
spiritual exploration is a prescription for how to pray to God for
revenge. (Another interesting aspect is references to entertainment
such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, which he criticizes
as anti-religious, and events such as Timothy McVeigh's execution.)
The book's most powerful message is the necessity of forgiveness
(although we will never forget September 11, 2001) and the futility
of revenge. Gray Davis, take a memo.
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