Book Review

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
4 stars

OK, I know, this one is way out there. But seriously, I liked it! Although I only agreed with about half of what she said, and I had problems with the Godless ideology upon which her principles rest, I think she's on to something.

Very simply put, I believe she's right about many of her practical suggestions for achieving success. When I listened to her book for the first time, I immediately identified a lot of her suggestions as things that have worked for me in the past.

For example, she advises to start out each day with confidence that good things will happen, that you will be successful in reaching your goals, that people will respond positively to you, and that you carry unlimited potential. Look at the good, not the bad, she urges. She encourages us to constantly give thanks and be grateful for the things we already have, and by doing this, we will attract more good things into our lives.

Her philosophy jives with my belief that optimism, an attitude of gratitude, and faith go a long ways towards helping us achieve our goals. However, the one thing missing in this equation is God. In Byrne's universe, humans seem to be the only gods. And herein lies the problem.

While I am definitely using many of Byrne's practical suggestions in my interactions and daily life, with good result, I completely reject the notion that I am successful in and of myself. Instead, God makes me successful and causes all of these laws of the universe to work. Byrne has identified some laws which are true, but failed to give the credit to God, for creating those laws in the first place.

I have given the book four stars because it is interesting and practical. If she were to write a book called The Secret for Christians, which included God in all of this, I would probably give her five!