As I commented in Jim Fischetti's blog, I've been reading and struggling my way through Think And Grow Rich. Now that I've finished the book, I think I'll post a bit about it.
I've heard about the book for quite a few years (it was first published back in 1966.) And it came VERY highly recommended. (Even the most recent "restored," "revised" "original" edition has a rating on Amazon of 4.5 out of 5 stars after more than 100 reviews by customers.)
So, with its long best-seller status and high praise, I was quite surprised to find myself recoiling from reading it. Now that I've finished, I think I can identify a few of the strongest repulsive forces.
First, I thought the book would be about growing rich - as in having a rich LIFE - not solely or overwhelmingly about financial wealth. (Several of the people recommending it assured me that it wasn't "just about money.") But what I found was it was in fact overwhelmingly proclaiming the message that we must develop within ourselves an unswerving, driving desire for money.
Now, I don't have a problem with making money. I have a few lifelong dreams that require money - LOTS of money. (One is to own my own World-Class Project Studio for Audio Recording. Another is to earn enough to follow in R. G. LeTourneau's footsteps and be able to give a reverse-tithe - give 90% of my income away and keep only 10% for myself - as he talked about briefly in his autobiography.) But my desire isn't for the money, it's for what will be done with the money. The money is merely a tool or resource, not the objective.
Many people think the Bible says, "Money is the root of all evil." But they're mistaken. It doesn't say that, and it doesn't imply that. What it DOES say is, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil..." (To see that in context click on this link.)
And looking at people who really focused their lives on the pursuit of gain or retaining money, I see some very miserable people. (A couple that jump to mind are Howard Hughes and Hetty Green. I look at the end result in their lives and see misery.)
Second, as a result of several people commenting on how it teaches the same thing as the Bible but in easier-to-understand terms, I thought the book would be at least benign as far as God was concerned, if not showing deference to God. (Kind of like Zig Ziglar's, John Maxwell's, Steven Covey's, Todd Duncan's, and a number of other motivational/self-improvement/business authors' books.) But what I found was a regular, reference to "Infinite Intelligence" instead of God. And this "Infinite Intelligence" is a very impersonal "force-like" energy that we supposedly can manipulate to our benefit.
Related to the Second discovery, was a Third; the author writes off the possibility of the supernatural with a few keystrokes when he declares matter-of-factly, "The author is not a believer in, nor an advocate of 'miracles,' for the reason that he has enough knowledge of nature to understand that Nature never deviates from her established laws." (Bold emphasis is mine, italicization is his.)
My response to the 2nd discovery is, I have a relationship with God. God is not an impersonal "Infinite Intelligence." He created us for relationship. And as God, He's not a force to be manipulated.
In regard to the 3rd discovery, I believe God gives us free-will within the constraints of His permissive-will. In other words, we have lots of leeway to do as we please, but there may come a place where He steps in, supernaturally, and forces our hand. When He "forces our hand," He may choose to do that using the existing "laws of nature" (which He set up), or He may choose to break those "laws" and perform a more obvious miracle. Either way, when God acts supernaturally, it's a "miracle." And to declare that one "has enough knowledge... to understand that" something never happens, is mighty presumptuous - especially in light of evidence to the contrary. (Just talk with someone who has experienced a miracle. You'll never convince them that what they experienced didn't happen. But they would be unable to convince anyone who comes with the presupposition that there is nothing, and there can be nothing supernatural... to convince them that something supernatural happened.)
Somehow, this reminds me of one of the characters in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal - a creature so stupid it believes if you can't see it, it can't see you.
These three things range between blatant, obvious messages and subtle undercurrents. But all three combined to make it difficult for me to read, because as I would read I would find myself having to reject much of the message and put in the extra effort to a) continue reading and b) seek out the grains of truth that were hidden in amongst the false messages. (It's all too easy to just drop anything we disagree with on the surface and miss some of the gems that might be hidden. On the other hand, it's also all too easy to just drop our guard and believe anything we read without thinking for ourselves.)
So, what did I find that was of value?
A few things...
The encouragement...
- to continue to dream big dreams, and write them down.
- to FOCUS
- to persist
- to continue to learn - and get specialized knowledge
- to exercise creativity
- to seek counsel - from others who are like-minded and who have more experience in specialized areas that will round me out
- reminder to seek God's counsel (as a result of rejecting the presupposition that God is merely "Infinite Intelligence") through prayer and reading His Word - the Bible (the all-time best-seller, that's not on the best-seller lists because it's in a category all its own - being so far ahead of anything else in terms of copies, editions, and languages in which it has been printed.)
and finally,
- the self-analysis test questions toward the end of the book
Comments(6)