Barry's Blog

So what did Galileo, Plato, Einstein, and Edison have in common? The makers of the "underground" movie, "The Secret," say they all used a simple philosophy to achieve success in life, and they claim, it can work for everyone! At schools, community centers, and homes, people are flocking to see a film that promises revelations to change their lives. Mysteriously, albeit intentionally, it cannot be seen in theaters. Thanks to an ingenious viral video marketing campaign using a grassroots, word-of-mouth strategy and the Internet, its producers say that millions have already learned a secret that has existed, according to the tagline, "and travelled through the centuries to reach you." The film also suggests that there has been a conspiracy to keep this central principle hidden from the public (remind you of another film suggesting conspiracy theories?).

Today, the controversial self-help book (also a DVD), has hit No. 1 on USA Today's Bestselling Books list. Authored by Australian reality-TV producer Rhonda Byrne, the book has been touted on television by the likes of Oprah Winfrey (last week) and Larry King in two episodes of his Larry King Live Show last November. The premise of both the book and film is that the "Law of Attraction" holds the key to the universe, and ultimately, to our happiness. If we think positively, and focus on them intently, we become the magnet that pulls everything we want toward us. But if our thoughts are negative, the Law of Attraction suggests, then we will attract bad things into our lives.

Perhaps two of the most disturbing and controversial aspects of the book and film deal with the mind's power over health, and the use of ancient wisdom and magic to acquire material goods. With respect  to health, Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of Agape International Spiritual Center, is quoted: "I've seen kidneys regenerated. I've seen cancer dissolved." Concerning ancient wisdom to acquire material goods, a kid in the film who wants a red BMX bicycle cuts out a picture in a catalog, concentrates real hard, and is rewarded with the spiffy two-wheeler!

In many ways, such thinking observed in The Secret may seem "new," but it is actually as old as the human race. For from our very origin, humanity has been faced with the temptation (as our ancestors were tested by the Tempter in the Garden, Genesis 3), to either live life autonomously, free from the benevolent hand of the Creator, or to live in obedience to His revealed will. When it comes down to it, there are only two choices: to conform our soul to reality, or to conform reality to our wishes.This Human Potential Movement, popularized in The Secret, seeks to gain the world at the expense of obedience to God and His revealed truth. C.S. Lewis made this important distinction in his work, The Abolition of Man;

"For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virture. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique..."

For FinishingWell,

Barry Morrow