Blogger summarizes Moore's education talk

Writing without Paper offers a synopsis of Thomas Moore’s 6 April 2009 presentation about liberal education at Marlboro College, in the post, "Thomas Moore on liberating education" . Blogger Maureen E. Doallas writes:

"During his talk, Moore articulates his premise that education that does not help us on a human level to plumb our depth and mystery prevents us from fully developing our individuality and creativity and fails to show us how to be "in community" with one another. Like our hospitals, which have become little more than places we take our bodies to be fixed, education, Moore maintains, has bought into the "myth of modernism"; it trains or engineers us to land a job and money, how to compete for power, but yields us no space for developing the deepest parts of ourselves. According to Moore, if we want a liberal education that offers the freedom to think, to study and talk about ideas, to reflect on what's important, we must let go our hold on "modernist mythology" that technology is better than human.

This may all sound very academic and esoteric; it's not, as you'll understand if you take the time to listen to Moore's engaging presentation. Moore argues a good case for putting the soul back in our life and, in particular, for re-visioning education as a means to doing that. We need to educate about the soul, not just stuff information into our brains. Education that fails to teach us about our soul leaves us incomplete human beings, Moore says."

Last month, Barque announced the availability of the presentation video on YouTube, in the entry, "Watch video of Moore talking about education”.

Learn with Moore at Omega retreat, July 2010

Thomas Moore and his wife offer a weekend retreat with Omega's Rhinebeck, New York community starting 2 July 2010. According to Omega, while exploring Jesus Spirituality & the Soul of the Gospels, "Moore and his wife, Hari Kirin Kaur Khalsa, guide us through meditation, chant, communal reflection, self-examination, reading, and walking meditation as we open to the joy of human life and relationship, and discover a spirituality of the divine that never conflicts with the pleasures of our earthly existence."

Date: July 2 - 4, 2010
Location: Rhinebeck, New York
Tuition: $295 U.S. (Members: $270 U.S.)
Course: SM10-2502-148
Register online and click links for accommodation
and commuter fees.
Recommended reading for this program:
Thomas Moore, Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels (2009), published by Hay House.

Moore offers one-day workshop at Eckerd College

In addition to the free public lecture at Eckerd College on Monday 22 February starting at 7:30 p.m., Thomas Moore offers a workshop on Saturday 20 February at the college. The campus location of the workshop is to be announced.

Soul and Spirit: Deeply Human and Open to Mysteries
Registration . . . . . . . . 9:30 a.m.
Workshop begins . . . 10:00 a.m.
Workshop ends . . . . . . 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $25 registration fee
Snacks and lunch included

Deadline for workshop registration:
Noon, Friday 19 February 2010
To reserve a seat, call: 727 864-7757
M. Bagasao
bagasam@eckerd.edu
Senior Chaplain/ Director
Center for Spiritual Life
Eckerd College

According to Moore, "We human beings stand midway between an intimate life of family, friends, home, and work on side, and a vast universe full of mysteries on the other. We cook and we pray, play and meditate, make a home and wonder about the meaning of it all. We are human and spiritual. But these two all-important dimensions sometimes get separated. We focus on one and forget the other." This workshop considers "deepening ordinary life while developing an intelligent and grounded spiritual existence."

Watch video of Moore talking about education

Marlboro College shares Thomas Moore's 6 April 2009 talk, Liberal Arts and Care of the Soul, as a video on YouTube. In this hour-long presentation, "A Liberating Education: Learning How to Be a Person with Soul," Moore urges us to "become cultured persons rather than just informed and skilled workers."

Moore's Writing in the Sand is book award finalist

Thomas Moore's latest book, Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels, published by Hay House, is one of five finalists in the best Spiritual Book category for the 14th annual Books for a Better Life Awards. Winners will be announced Monday 22 February 2010 during an awards ceremony at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City.

Writing in the Sand wins an award from Spirituality and Practice as one of the best Spiritual books of 2009 (Category: Jesus), as announced on Barque at the beginning of this month.

Moore's earlier book, Dark Nights of the Soul, published by Gotham Books, won the best Psychology Book award in 2005 in the Books for a Better Life Awards, also announced on Barque.

For the Books for a Better Life Awards, five finalists are selected from nearly 500 entries for each of the ten categories.

Protect your mystery and love your inner idiot

Thomas Moore visits the C. G. Jung Center for Studies in Analytical Psychology of Brunswick, Maine on Friday 7 May and Saturday 8 May, 2010.


Friday 7 May 2010, 7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Lecture: The Importance of Not Knowing Yourself:
Protecting the Mystery of Who and What You Are
Orion Performing Arts Center, 50 Republic Ave., Topsham, Maine
Members: $15; Non-members: $20

"Only the shallow know themselves." ~ Oscar Wilde

Understanding yourself is not nearly as important as appreciating how deep, complex, and rich your soul is. Loving your soul, with all of its gaps, leads to self-acceptance and self-forgiveness, doorways to a creative life. We move in the wrong direction when we aim only for self-improvement and believe that one day everything will be perfect, or should be. An alternative is to appreciate the place of failed work, failed relationships, and failed plans, and to cultivate the fool and the ignoramus.

You will never know enough or accomplish all that you feel you need to do. Instead, you can love your foolishness and see the wisdom in your failures. You can appreciate how much you have received from your losses. You can love the mysterious in those with whom you are intimate and give up the need to understand yourself. A soul psychology embraces both the empty and the full. As the spiritual traditions show, connecting with life’s deepest mysteries, in the world and in yourself, is the purpose of religion.

Saturday 8 May, 2010 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Seminar: Imperfect Souls: How to Love Your Inner Idiot
Daggett Lounge, Thorne Hall, Bowdoin College, off College St., Brunswick
Members: $85; Non-members: $95
Register by Friday, April 30, and receive $10 discount.
Pre-registration recommended.

"In quest of learning, every day you acquire something.
In quest of the Tao, every day you lose something."
~ Tao Te Ching, 48

Today people assume that it’s important to acquire and accomplish things, to know as much as possible and to succeed. The soul sometimes works by a different logic. It comes to life with special effect when we are emptied through failure and loss. The key is our attitude toward the imperfect life and how we deal with loss. Spiritual traditions teach the importance of the mysterious and of toning down our need to know so much.

In this workshop participants will reflect on sources like the Tao Te Ching, the Heart Sutra, Cultivating Ignorance and Conversations with an Idiot by Nicolaus Cusanus, and In Praise of Foolishness by Erasmus. We will also consider Samuel Beckett’s empty hat, Oscar Wilde’s empty plate of cucumber sandwiches, René Magritte’s paintings, and various poems and Sufi stories. We will try to see the wisdom in our follies, stupidities, illusions, and failures, and we will learn more about loving the imperfect soul. An increase in this kind of love may inspire more satisfying work and deeper relationships.

Visit the C. G. Jung Center at http://mainejungcenter.org and click on the Center's Programs tab. Scroll to the appropriate dates to print or email these descriptions.

Metanoia initiates a new way to be in the world

RJ, a minister with the United Church of Christ shares sermon notes for January 17 in his post, "Living as new wine" in which he refers to Thomas Moore's description of the wedding in Cana in Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels. A 37 second YouTube video titled Surprise, shows Moore talking about metanoia, a radical shift in awareness. RJ quotes Moore's book:

"But Jesus demonstrates that in the kingdom of God, marriage is one of the prime settings in which the transformation from plain living to new vision can take place. It is where the water becomes wine... it is where our raw and untested lives take on new complexity and richness through sharing and struggle... it is where, like grape juice turning to wine, our separateness is broken down as we discover the mystery of a shared life."

RJ considers additional connections between marriage and different types of relationships. Viewers also can access a 28 second clip of Moore describing the emotion of longing -- an emotion that he says makes us human.

Moore reschedules with The Enrichment Hour

According to media consultant Mike Schwager, his next program of "The Enrichment Hour" on Tuesday 12 January, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. EST features Thomas Moore talking about soul in the first half hour. An earlier Barque post announced Moore as a guest on the show last month but technical difficulties led to tomorrow's rescheduling. Schwager invites listeners to call-in while the guest is on-air: 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time, 6:00 p.m. Central Time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Sedona Talk Radio.

Awakening the Imagination of Medicine online

Marcus M. McKinney, director of clinical pastoral training with St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, offers materials from Awakening the Imagination of Medicine, held Oct. 26, 2009. Thomas Moore and James Hillman spoke at this event. McKinney's files, on the right side of the central frame in the linked page:
*Awakening Conference Photos
*Dr. James Hillman's Major Points
*Slides/Notes from the conference

Thanks, Marcus, for sharing these resources.

Hay House hosts Moore on radio program, Jan. 9

On 9 January 2010 from 5:00 p.m.to 6:00 p.m. PST, Hay House Radio hosts Thomas Moore with other Hay House speakers on its program Finding Total Happiness: "In the second half of the hour, Gary Renard and Thomas Moore, Ph.D., discuss their non conventional views of Jesus."

Guests are associated with Hay House's I Can Do It! conference scheduled for May 14 to 16, 2010 in San Diego. Moore appears on Sunday 16 May from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to talk about his new book, Care of the Soul in Medicine in a concurrent session.

Elicit the flavours of Venus for intimacy

YouTube offers a 2 minute 21 second clip of Thomas Moore at OneTaste in San Francisco from 3 May 2009, speaking about "Venus: The Forgotten Face of God." Visit OneTaste and scroll down to view the same segment of Moore's presentation. In this clip, Moore stresses "The sphere of Venus, the Italian goddess of old, contains sensuality, sexuality, romantic love, and the beauty of nature." He prudently recommends that intimate partners forgo trying "to understand" each other.

Moore visits Eckerd College, February 2010

According to the Presbytery of Tampa Bay, Thomas Moore's appearance at St. Petersburg's Eckerd College in February, 2010 includes:

Saturday, February 20 Workshop:
"Soul and Spirit: Deeply Human and Open to the Mysteries"
To be held on the Eckerd campus; times and cost TBA

Monday, February 22 Lecture:
"The Ecology of Everyday Life: Caring for Your World and Your Deep Soul"
7:30PM in Fox Hall, Eckerd College
Free and open to the public.

Space in the Saturday workshop is limited. If you would like to receive more information when it is available, email bagasam@eckerd.edu. This e-mail address is protected from spambots. Enable JavaScript to view it with your contact information.

An earlier Barque post announces this engagement.

Listen to Moore's archived program about Jesus

Today, Amy Miller hosts Thomas Moore on Connect as he talks about his latest book, Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels. According to the Connect site, "Thomas discusses how, regardless of your religious or spiritual beliefs, one can make the Gospels an important source of their spiritual life and practice." This archived program is available as Windows Media Streaming, Open (stream) with QuickTime or an MP3 Download.

Give yourself a treat for seasonal contemplation

Thomas Moore's site, careofthesoul.net will send you an unpublished 19-page chapter for his book, Writing in the Sand, after you register for this free .pdf download with your name and email address. The chapter, "No Room in the Inn" explores the birth of Jesus, emphasizing nature, magic, inclusivity and the ways of the kingdom. Visit Moore's homepage for instructions.

Moore suggests, "Jesus also represents the possibility of a transfiguration of human life. It is possible to transcend corruption and violence on a cultural level. It is possible for genuine community to succeed. But this good outcome entails a spiritualization of the ordinary, an interpenetration of ideals and ordinary situations. God becomes human so that humans can become divine: the two-sided mystery of incarnation. [John Moriarty]"

A few pages after this passage, Moore writes, "The traditional Christmas crèche is more than a sentimental nod to virtues of peace and brotherhood. The combination of manger, animals, magic, star, and angels perfectly pictures the scope of the Jesus event from the very beginning. He is deeply human and alarmingly humble. But he is also a turning-point in the development of the human species, indeed of the cosmos itself, according to [Teilhard de] Chardin. The challenge is to embrace a spirituality of such scope and radical implications. How can each of us be completely human, foolishly humble, and imaginative enough to see our roles in the unfolding of human potentiality?"

Register to download the chapter. Read Moore’s reflections.

Moore asks UU ministers, "Are you prepared?"

On Sunday 6 December, Rev. Diane Rollert, of the Unitarian Church of Montreal delivers the sermon "Dark Nights, Bright Stars" in which she talks about the Unitarian Universalist ministers’ October convention in Ottawa. Thomas Moore was featured speaker at the event and Rollert was one of twenty-five attendees whose name was drawn to attend Moore’s on-going workshop during the gathering. Rollert describes some of Moore's workshop activities and shares,

"On our last day together, Tom tells us about the phone conversation he has just had with his wife. Early in October, in their rural New Hampshire community, two teenage boys were arrested for killing a woman and injuring her daughter with a machete. His community has been in shock. These are boys they know, and no one can comprehend why they committed this murder. Psychologists and social workers were called in to the schools. Ultimately, the clergy were called upon to help the community make sense of the incomprehensible. Who else do you call in a crisis of faith but the clergy?

Now Tom is spending a week with us, a group of ministers who have placed all our concerns about leadership in the 21st Century on the table. He and his wife ask each other, are they prepared?

"What are you doing to prepare yourselves?" he asks us. As one of our colleagues said during the week, we may be living in the time of the great unravelling. How do we prepare ourselves to respond? Tom reminds us that in the great Indian traditions, gurus know from an early time in life that they are called to lead. They begin preparing themselves at an early age. They are "big" in their presence. "Are you prepared?" he asks. In his mind, the work that has to be done is the work of the soul.

We’ve known tragedy here in Montreal. I stand here beside fourteen candles burning in the memory of the fourteen women shot down in cold blood by an enraged young man at L’École Polytechnique, twenty years ago today. I remember the day a young man stormed Dawson College three years ago, harming many and killing one young woman. I remember how we gathered a group of students here so that they could talk in a neutral place outside of the school. At the end of the sharing of memories that so needed to be spoken, we gathered in a circle, we held hands, we lit a candle and I said a prayer. Were we prepared? Not really, but we are learning out of necessity.”

Rollert includes quotations from Moore’s Care of the Soul in her sermon as she describes soul needs.

Listen to Moore during The Enrichment Hour

Media consultant Mike Schwager twitters December 5  that he will interview Thomas Moore, Tuesday 29 December, for The Enrichment Hour, an offering by Sedona Talk Radio. His other guest that day is acting coach Anthony Abeson. Schwager's show premiers Tuesday 15 December at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Mountain Time, 6:00 p.m. Central Time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time). You can listen to the live show or to an archived version after the program airs.

During The Enrichment Hour, Schwager plans to interview “celebrities, authors and opinion leaders on subjects that include spirituality, human potential, humanitarian news, culture and the arts, and the movies. The hour will be divided between interviews with guests, which you are invited to call-in on, and Comments & Views by Mike on the news stories of the day and week.”

Eckerd College hosts Moore on Feb. 22, 2010

EDITOR'S NOTE: The lecture is moved to Fox Hall, Eckerd College.

St. Petersburg’s Eckerd College promotes Thomas Moore’s free appearance in Miller Auditorium on Monday 22 February, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. Moore is a featured speaker in the Center for Spiritual Life’s Burchenal Lecture Series.

For more information about this event, contact: Events Administrator.

Eckerd College "was founded in 1958 as Florida Presbyterian College and admitted its first students in 1960. In 1972, the College’s name was changed to honor the late Jack M. Eckerd, a prominent Florida civic leader and businessman whose gifts and commitments to the institution have helped to insure its continuing excellence."

Care of the soul in medicine guides 2010 talks

Thomas Moore’s sessions at Hay House’s 2010 I Can Do It! conferences in San Diego (May 16) and Toronto (May 30) flow from his book, Care of the Soul in Medicine: Healing Guidance for Patients, Families, and the People Who Care for Them, to be published by Hay House next April.

According to Hay House, “Through stories from Thomas Moore’s patients, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers, Thomas speaks to the importance of healing a whole person — body, soul, and spirit — a person with emotions, history, family, and work rather than simply treating a body. He gives advice to both healthcare providers and patients for maintaining dignity and humanity during illness and treatment. Providing spiritual guidance for dealing with feelings of mortality and depression, Thomas encourages patients to not only take an active part in the healing process, but also to view illness as a positive passage to new awareness and possibilities for life.”

Moore speaks at Glenstal Abbey in new year

Thomas Moore will be in Limerick, Ireland from 31 January to 3 February 2010, talking about "Spirit and Soul" at Glenstal Abbey. He offers a public lecture on Sunday 31 January 2010 at 4 p.m. in the library. Tickets are on a first come, first served basis. Please email margaret@glenstal.org if you'd like to attend.

Careofthesoul.net features Moore's 2010 events

Thomas Moore updates his site’s Events page with a listing of public appearances in 2010. There is still an opportunity to hear Moore speak this month on Nov. 22 in Tampa Florida at Hay House’s I Can Do It! Conference. Moore is in Ireland and Florida during February 2010, before his session at Kripalu in March. Check the Barque sidebar for event links as they become available.

Moore ponders care of the soul in this century

Thomas Moore is the keynote speaker at the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association’s 2009 Convocation in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. On Thursday 12 November, Rev. Cynthia Landrum, Minister of the Universalist Unitarian Church of East Liberty in Clarklake, Michigan, blogs "Thomas Moore vs. the New Atheists? Buy Me Tickets!":

"So I'm here at the UUMA Convocation, and the keynote speaker this morning was Thomas Moore.

What I took from what Thomas Moore shared with us is that there is a divorce in American culture between science and religion, which is the split between mind/intellect and soul. There's nothing surprising in that idea, of course. But Thomas Moore put it simply pointedly, saying (or this is my interpretation of what he said) that most people stop developing their idea of God as children, and the ideas of God put out there the most in our culture are essentially the God we learn at age 6 or 7. Now, reflecting a bit on what he said, imagine if you stopped your understanding of what math is or literature is or science is or medicine is at age 6 or 7. Why do we think that this childhood idea of God is sufficient? My own question is why do even ministers support, uphold, even preach this childish idea of God?"

Rev. Landrum continues with a discussion of "New Atheists" and Moore’s willingness to debate them.

The same day, Rev. Sam Trumbore who is with the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, also blogs about Moore’s presentation in "Caring for and about the soul" for Albany’s timesunion.com site. After describing Moore’s introduction of Nicolas of Cusa [c. 1401-1464], Rev. Trumbore suggests,

"When we talk about God, we rub up against our ignorance. That ignorance, however, is holy and needs to be honored rather than expunged. This is our post-modern perspective, realizing the limits of our knowing and having to make accommodations for this reality.

Even though Moore was lecturing to us, he didn’t want for us to walk away adopting his ideas uncritically. He claimed that his purpose was not to persuade us of anything. He cautioned us about converting people to anything. Better for us to lead people into their own lives and help them find their own answers – the UU way.

Yet each of us has our own fundamentalisms we want to foist on each other and convert others. Better to let go of such intentions and let the engagement of dialogue do the holy enlightening work all by itself."

Today Rev. Trumbore covers the convocation in his post, "The Need to Care for the Soul" in which he describes Moore’s talk yesterday morning. He writes that Moore values friendship, nourishing food, beauty and a sense of home as contributions to soul.

"Moore talked about one of my favorite Greek philosophers Epicurus. He made the connection with food as nourishment for the soul. Interestingly, Jesus spent a lot of time dealing with food. Changing water into wine is a very Epicurean thing to do after all. Jesus feeds 5000. And what about the Last Supper? In the Road to Emmaus story, Jesus is recognized when he breaks bread. Interesting to look at Jesus as a fellow traveler with Epicurus.

Moore talked about the importance of home to the soul. Our bodies need a place where they feel secure. Even if that is a chair in a restaurant or a park bench. We have a need for beauty, an aesthetic sense that generates pleasure. The arts are important sources of soul food. All forms of pleasure are nourishing to the soul. Moore differentiated passing pleasures from deep pleasures that had enduring satisfaction."

Rev. Trumbore shares,"It was here that the distinction between soul and spirit becomes most clear. The spirit focuses on that which transcends the body. The soul has no interest in transcendence. The soul wants to be here now, to be alive, vital and present." Convocation 2009 concludes tomorrow.

Hay House features Moore at two 2010 events

Hay House promotes its I Can Do It! 2010 – San Diego event, to be held May 14 to 16, 2010 at the San Diego Convention Center. Thomas Moore is a featured author in a concurrent workshop on Sunday May 16, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Barque will include a description of Moore’s presentation in a future post.

Moore is also to appear at the I Can Do It! 2010 – Toronto event, May 27 to 30, 2010 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Moore’s concurrent workshop is Sunday, May 30, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. More information about this session will be shared when it’s available.

Moore offers Marco Island program in February

Thomas Moore presents his week-long "Spirituality and Care of the Soul in Psychotherapy" program for the New England Educational Institute on Marco Island, Florida from February 15 to 19, 2010. This symposium is "designed for psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, primary care physicians, counselors, nurses and allied mental health professionals."

Early Registration:
Postmarked before December 1, 2009 - $499 U.S.
Late Registration:
Postmarked after December 1, 2009 - $575 U.S.

Monday
•Healing the whole person: Body-Soul-Spirit
•Herakleitos: depth and flow
•Jung and the archetype of healing

Tuesday
•Psychological and spiritual counseling
•Hillman revisions Jung
•Asklepios and the role of dreams
•Spirituality in everyday life
•Incubation
•Spirituality and the religious traditions

Wednesday
•Creating a healing environment
•Alchemy
•Psychotherapy as opus and vessel
•Not splitting healer-patient archetype
•The wounded healer
•The model of the Healing Buddha

Thursday
•The shadow side of being a healer
•Money, sex, power, insecurity, burn-out
•Archetypes of charlatan, magician, parent, all-knowing expert
•Dealing with shadow
•Spiritual teachings on sacred ignorance
•Magritte, Beckett, Erasmus

Friday
•Spiritual and emotional support for the healer
•Caring for the healer's soul and spirit
•Education for the deep, spiritual role of healer
•What traditional healers can teach the modern healer
•Nature and friendship
•Gospel spirituality
•The Epicurean life

Register online through the NEEI site. Continuing education credits are available.

Illness offers a window on one's way of life

On her eponymous blog, Daphne Michaels includes a quote from Thomas Moore about his broken heart, and his reaction to the physician’s recommendation that he undergo angioplasty.

According to Michaels, Moore said, "One thing I plan to do is to take a trip to Ireland. Ireland really soothes me. My blood pressure goes down when I am there; it just drops right down. So I am trying to listen to illness as an opportunity to reflect not just on my body, but on my way of life."

Enjoy the treat of a monastic, weekend retreat

Thomas Moore and his wife, Hari Kirin Kaur Khalsa, offer a weekend retreat at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, from March 26 to March 28, 2010: ”Jesus Spirituality and the Soul of the Gospels”.

The program description promises, "Through the monastic practices of meditation, chant, communal reflection, self-examination, spiritual reading, and silent walking meditation, you will open to the joy of human life and relationship."

Moore’s 2009 book, Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels, published by Hay House, is required reading for this retreat and participants are to bring copies of the book with them. Click the link for more information about this Kripalu program, including pricing and accommodation arrangements.

Meet Moore at Riverrun Bookstore, October 21

Riverrun Bookstore hosts Thomas Moore on Wednesday 21 October, 2009 at 7 p.m. when he talks about his book, Writing in the Sand. This nonfiction work is Moore's interpretation of the Gospels’ meaning ― an approach not only for Christians, but for anyone seeking spiritual insight in the texts. This event is free and open to the public.

Riverrun Bookstore
20 Congress St.,
Portsmouth, NH 03801
603 431-2100
www.riverrunbookstore.com

New book about medicine available April, 2010

Thomas Moore’s new book, Care of the Soul in Medicine: Healing Guidance for Patients and the People Who Care for Them is available in hardcover, 15 April 2010.

According to publisher, Hay House, "Care of the Soul In Medicine is Moore’s manifesto about the future of healthcare. In this new vision of care, Moore speaks to the importance of healing a person rather than simply treating a body. He gives advice to both healthcare providers and patients for maintaining dignity and humanity. He provides spiritual guidance for dealing with feelings of mortality and threat, encouraging patients to not only take an active part in healing but also to view illness as a positive passage to new awareness. While we don’t fully understand the extent to which healing depends on attitude; it has been shown that healing needs to focus on more than the body."

Care of the Soul in Medicine
Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: Hay House (15 April 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401925634
ISBN-13: 978-1401925635

Matt Laughlin interviews Moore in Unified Health: A Clinician’s Forum (Fall 2009, volume 5, issue 17) under the headline, "A conversation with Thomas Moore." Moore talks about Writing in the Sand and his new book, Care of the Soul in Medicine. This interview is available as a 6-page pdf download:
http://www.unified-health-journal.com/support-files/thomas-moore-int-soul-of-medicine.pdf

Download free copy of Humanizing Medicine

BetterListen! offers Thomas Moore’s audio program, Humanizing Medicine as its free digital download this month.
ISBN: 9781615440009
Run time: 75 minutes
Regular price: $9.99 U.S.

According to the linked page, "While a purely scientific approach to medicine can work well in and of itself, Moore also considers the importance of emotions, fantasies, dreams, the physical healing environment, and the relationship of caregiver and patient to enhance a person’s healing and overall wellness."

In addition to Humanizing Medicine, BetterListen! produces these recordings by Thomas Moore:
A Magical Life
Soul & Everyday Life
The New Epicureans
BetterListen!’s bio page for Moore links to these offerings.

Moore affirms poetry's transformative power

This month, Hay House publishes Kim Rosen’s book, Saved by a Poem: The Transformative Power of Words. According to the publisher's site, "Whether you are a lover of poetry or have yet to discover its power, Rosen offers a new way to experience a poem. She encourages you to feel the poem as an affirmation or prayer, which can align every level of your being. In an uncertain world, Saved by a Poem is a call to cultivate the ever-renewable resources of the heart. With teaching, story, verse, and memoir, Rosen guides you to find a poem that speaks to your soul and shows you how to take its wisdom into your life."

This book includes a companion CD of "Rosen's insights along with the voices of well-known authors and visionaries, including Thomas Moore, Joan Borysenko, and Jane Hirshfield, each reading a favorite poem and discussing its personal significance."

Lesley University event imagines a new cosmos

Thomas Moore and cultural historian Richard Tarnas speak at Lesley University’s Marran Theatre in Cambridge, MA on October 18, 2009 at 4:00 pm for the event, Soul and Cosmos: A New Way of Imagining Life in the 21st Century. The Marran Theatre is at 47 Oxford Street between Harvard and Porter Sq. Promotional material includes, "Responding to our current global situation, Moore and Tarnas lead a public discussion about how the cosmology of a culture, the way it pictures the world, reflects its underlying values and psychology.

With a debt to Plato, Jung, and James Hillman among others, they further the archetypal perspective that could help us transition into a new century... In both writers, cosmos meets soul. Drawing on ancient and postmodern insights, these two contemporary thinkers inspire us to shift from an alienated and disenchanted world into a more ensouled and holistic one."

Tarnas and Moore will each speak for about thirty minutes before conversing with each other for forty-five minutes. The audience may listen to their questions and commentaries on each other’s work and will have the opportunity to interact with the speakers.

The event is free for the Lesley University community with ID and $15.00 for the general public. Tickets, not available at the door, must be purchased in advance from www.brownpapertickets.com. Arrive as early as possible. Seating is limited. Doors open at 3:30 pm.

Thomas Moore authorizes email newsletter

Thomas Moore distributes a September 2009 newsletter showcasing his public appearances and events for the rest of 2009 and early 2010. Sign up to join the mailing list by clicking the button in the newsletter's sidebar that contains a quote from Moore's recent book, Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels.

Course explores spirituality in psychotherapy

The New England Educational Institute sponsors Thomas Moore's three-day symposium, Spirituality and Care of the Soul in Psychotherapy, to be offered Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, 2009 at the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Although the program is directed at mental health and medical professionals, anyone may attend.

According to the NEEI description, "Participants will reflect on their own spiritual journeys and explore ways of meditation and contemplation. They will learn the difference between soul and spirit and see how they can blend psychological counseling with spiritual guidance. The shadow elements in psychotherapy and spirituality will be examined both personally and theoretically."

COURSE SCHEDULE
Friday
*Healing the whole person: Body, soul, and spirit/Historical ideas about soul
*Jung, Hillman, and the archetype of healing
*Asklepios and dream incubation

Saturday
*Spiritual counseling
*The model of the Healing Buddha
*Alchemy and the vessel and opus of therapy
*The wounded healer/The therapist's shadow
*The Gospel model of healing

Sunday
*What traditional healers can teach the modern healer
*Spiritual and emotional support for the healer
*The continuing education of the spiritual healer
*The role of contemplation, friendship, and nature in supporting the therapist
*Other ways of self-care for the therapist

Continuing Education credit is available for this program.

Attend Moore's event in London on Sept. 7

St. Jame's Church, Piccadilly, London, England hosts Thomas Moore's public presentation Writing in the Sand on Monday 7 September 2009, starting at 7:00 p.m.

According to the linked promotion,

"This evening Thomas Moore uses depth psychology, mythology, and spirituality to present a faith in tune with 21st century values. Thomas finds striking new meaning in the rich stories and imagery of the Gospels, recasting Jesus not as a teacher of morals and beliefs, but as a spiritual reformer and visionary. He explains how you can “enter the kingdom” by respecting those who are not in your circle, being a healing presence in every situation, reconciling your sexuality with your spirituality, and by waking up from the cultural unconsciousness around you. Thomas also discuss the important Gospel figure of the much misunderstood Mary Magdalene. This evening offers an original and fresh look at re-imagining your spiritual life."

Online booking is available through the linked page.

Awakening the Imagination of Medicine, Oct. 26

Registration is open for Awakening the Imagination of Medicine, a full-day conference in East Hartford, Connecticut on Monday 26 October, featuring James Hillman, Thomas Moore, Michael Kearney, Marcus McKinney, and Sharon O'Brien. This event is restricted to 300 attendees. Cost is $50.

Moore's presentation is "Feathers, a Ladder, and a Bowl of Oil: Deepening the Practice of Medicine."

The Saint Francis Care Event Calendar entry links to an online registration form. This six-page PDF brochure outlines the conference and introduces the speakers.

Spirituality and Practice offers Moore excerpts

Spirituality and Practice's profile of Thomas Moore, in its Living Spiritual Teachers Project, includes a one-page quotations sampler of Moore's writing.

Moore shows Magritte to illustrate foolishness

At Hampstead Town Hall, Thomas Moore presents "Magritte’s Head: Our Precious Ignorance and Foolishness" on 9 September 2009, before the start of Re-vision's conference, Sacred Margins: Psychotherapy at the Interface.

"Drawing on Nicolas of Cusa’s Educated Ignorance, and Erasmus’s In Praise of Folly, Thomas Moore suggests that there is a certain way in which intellectualizing ruins life. He will show some of Magritte’s images and offer an interpretation of other classic sources, proposing the limits of the mind and the importance of playing, fooling around, and cultivating a sense of admitting to what you don’t know and can never know."

Barque posted an earlier notice of this event with payment information.

Listen to Moore discuss his two latest books

On 18 July 2009, Amy Miller spoke with Thomas Moore on Connect radio. Scroll down this linked page for audio files of the program.

According to the Connect site:
"Thomas Moore, author of A Life at Work: The Joy of Discovering What You Were Born to Do, joined Connect to discuss how to find your life's work. He defined what opus means to him. He described the difference between soul and spirit and much more. We also discussed his latest book Writing in the Sand: Jesus & the Soul of the Gospels. He discussed the teachings of Jesus, including love/respect and forgiveness."

We need to add subtraction to life's lessons

In his monthly column for Spirituality and Health, Thomas Moore writes "Teaching What Matters" in the May — June 2009 issue. He introduces his topic,

"When I was in graduate school, I was fascinated by a play by Eugene Ionesco called The Lesson. In it a young woman studies for the total doctorate, but she has a problem. She can add perfectly but can't subtract. The teacher gets so upset by her failure to learn that eventually, he attacks her with a knife.

In school we learn how to add. We learn more and more facts, study more subjects, and acquire more diplomas and degrees. We learn enough to become a success at work and add more money to our bank accounts. But like the woman in the play, we are not good at subtraction. We don't learn how to live with one person in a marriage or how to lose our freedom as we bring up our children. We don't learn how to deal with jealousy and envy, emotions that afflict us when we don't have what we want. We don't learn how to deal with failures and setbacks and losses. We don't learn what to do when our health is in the minus column. We don't learn about the ultimate subtraction — death.

There are many aspects of ordinary life that apparently we believe we can accomplish naturally, unconsciously. It's interesting that these things — marriage, illness, child-raising, depression, mortality — are fairly major concerns. Then why are these important items missing from the school curriculum? All signs indicate that we are not doing well in these areas, and yet major writers and artists have written about them, dramatized them, reflected on them, and written a vast quantity of music about them. There is much to study and to learn."

Moore suggests commoditization may be a negative factor in education. Lack of time may be cited for the exclusion of significant subjects. Relevance may be missing. However, he shows how each of these concerns may be addressed.

He concludes, "Maybe if we taught the things that really matter, if we aimed at the total doctorate, we parents and teachers would be passionate in our love of the subject and love of our children."

Moore's column for the July — August 2009 issue, "How to Empty Your Head" will be available in September.

Pastoral counseling list includes Moore's books

Marcus McKinney, director of Clinical Pastoral Training for St. Francis Care in Hartford, Connecticut offers a reference list of books for people involved with pastoral counseling. He includes books by Thomas Moore, James Hillman and Carl Jung.

Care of the Soul:
A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life
Thomas Moore
1992 HarperPerennial

Dark Nights of the Soul:
A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life’s Ordeals
Thomas Moore
2004 Gotham

The Kingdom Within:
The Inner Meaning of the Sayings of Jesus
John Sanford
1987 HarperSanFrancisco

The Invisible Partners:
How the Male and Female in Each of Us Affects Our Relationships
John Sanford
1980 Paulist Press

Healing Through the Dark Emotions:
The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, Dispair
Miriam Greenspan
2003 Shambhala

Insearch : Psychology and Religion
By James Hillman
1994 revised Spring

The Soul’s Code: In Search of Character and Calling
James Hillman
1997 Warner Books

The Force of Character and the Lasting Life
James Hillman
1999 Random House

A Terrible Love of War
James Hillman
2004 Penguin Press

The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart
A Poetry Anthology
Robert Bly, Michael Meade, James Hillman editors
1992 HarperCollins

Modern Man in Search of a Soul
Carl Jung
1995 Harvest Books

Memories, Dreams and Reflections
Aniela Jaffe, editor
1989 Vintage

African American Pastoral Care
Edward Wimberly
1991 Abingdon Press

Persona : Where Sacred Meets Profane
Robert H. Hopke
1995 Shambhala

The Shadow in America : Reclaiming the Soul of a Nation
Jeremiah Abrams, editor
1994 Nataraj

Jewish Pastoral Care: A Practical Handbook
Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman
2001 Jewish Lights

Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Power of the
Dark Side of Human Nature
Edited by Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams
1991 Tarcher-Putnam

To recommend books, please e-mail Dr. McKinney:
mmckinne@stfranciscare.org

Healing and medicine include soul of illness

Hay House promotes Thomas Moore's appearance on Sunday 22 November, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at its I Can Do It! Tampa 2009 conference. Promotion for Moore's concurrent workshop, The Soul of Medicine, includes:

"While we don’t fully understand the extent to which healing depends on attitude; a sense of meaning; a healing atmosphere; spirituality; and the support of family, friends, and community, it has been shown time after time that healing needs to focus on more than the body. The future of medicine is more than new technical developments and research discoveries; it lies also in appreciating the state of soul and spirit in illness!"

Hay House publishes Moore's latest book, Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels, and is scheduled to release Moore's The Soul of Medicine in 2010.

Intimate, open conversation may be therapeutic

Wisdom Magazine offers an excerpt from Thomas Moore's Writing in the Sand, Chapter Five: Everyone a Healer. The passage includes Thomas Moore’s observation:

"As a therapist, I have seen many people get better physically and in every other way just through intimate and open conversation. I don’t judge them and I don’t tell them how they should live. I listen to them and in their suffering welcome them into the human race. We all suffer. I help them get a perspective on their pain and I laugh with them about how we complain and wish for an ideal life. I have no doubt that the body can be healed by spiritual compassion."

Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels, published by Hay House, is available now.

Andrle asks Moore about Jesus and the Gospels

WOSU public media Open Line host Fred Andrle interviews Thomas Moore on Thursday 28 May 2009 at 11:00 a.m. in a segment titled "Jesus as an Example". Moore talks about his new book, Writing in the Sand, and shares with listeners that "Jesus and the Gospels offer a spiritual path to everyone ... a vision of love and understanding that goes beyond narrow judgments of right and wrong."

This is Fred Andrle's penultimate broadcast for Open Line. He has hosted the program on WOSU 820 AM for the past 20 years.

Hampstead Town Hall hosts talk in September

Re-Vision, Centre for Integrative Psychosynthesis in London, U.K., posts details about Thomas Moore's public talk, "Magritte’s Head: Our Precious Ignorance and Foolishness" to be given on Wednesday 9 September, 2009. It will be 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Hampstead Town Hall. Moore is the patron of Re-Vision and spoke for the centre in 2007.

Tickets are limited for this 9 September 2009 talk.
Book early to avoid disappointment.
Cost: £25 minimum suggested donation (£20 for students and graduate members of Re-Vision)

To apply for this evening talk:
- Send a cheque for £25 with details including email address, or
- Send details through Contact on the linked site and give a minimum donation of £25 through Paypal by clicking the Donate link on the Re-Vision web page.

You can also download and return a Gift aid form that allows Re-Vision a tax rebate on your donation. It costs nothing extra.

Infuse a spiritual drive with the milk of kindness

Thomas Moore's Care of the Soul column, "Yoga and Tea" in the March-April issue of Spirituality and Health, is freely available online. Moore suggests the spiritual be bound to the soulful:

"Tea and yoga complement each other well. It’s wonderful to succeed and have some money and get somewhere in life but only if you keep your friends, enjoy a satisfying marriage or partnership, have a real home, and feel comfortable with yourself. The spiritual path is a dangerous one; on it many have lost their humanity.

My rule for spiritual practice is simple: You can go as high as you want in your yearning for perfection, as long as you have an equally deep base on the ordinary comforts of everyday life.

I always have some misgivings about the ambitious spiritual leaders I meet. I admire their achievements, but I wonder if they have a joyful home life and are deeply forgiving and have close friends and love their work. I wonder if they have time for their children and time for play. I know that they meditate, but do they also make music, paint, and tell good jokes? Do they eat for pleasure as well as purity of mind? Do they appreciate the ordinary, imperfect life?"

Moore recommends educators, politicians and business leaders adopt approaches that include pleasure, friendship, and comfort.

Moore: Looking for Jesus in the 21st Century

According to publisher Hay House, "Most people are familiar with the Gospels of the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus, but how many of us have looked into their deeper meaning? In his new book, Writing in the Sand, renowned scholar Thomas Moore finds striking new insights in the rich stories and imagery of the Gospels, recasting Jesus not as a teacher of morals and beliefs but as a healer and a spiritual visionary. Read on as Moore shows us in this highly original take on the Gospels, a more human Jesus whose teachings act as a guide to creating a happier and more meaningful life."

Thomas Moore writes the following for Hay House's email newsletter, under the Barque headline above:

"The good news is that we are creating a new world order in which the first task is to heal each other.

The Buddha begins his teaching with the simple observation that there is suffering in the world. Jesus similarly focuses on the sickness of the soul that affects people individually and socially, physically and spiritually. This perception of sickness is central, and healing is his signature activity. Jesus does not teach how to be virtuous, how to be saved, or how to be a good church member. He says nothing about memorizing dogma or following a strict set of moral rules. Instead, he continually demonstrates how to be in this world as a healer.

I know a Christian minister who is an instinctive healer. Everywhere he goes, he sees need when it is present. Where others overlook a person in distress, he stops to find out what is wrong. He has a Gospel instinct and knows intuitively that the role of minister is to heal.

I know several ministers who don't have this gift. It doesn't come with ordination. I do have a Buddhist friend who responds similarly, and, to my mind, his healing reactions place him in the kingdom Jesus envisioned. He is a Buddhist by affiliation, but his way of life is precisely in tune with the way Jesus taught. He found his way into the kingdom through Buddha.

The Gospels use several words for healing, but the main one is therapeia, "therapy." Plato used this very word in the dialogue Euthyphro, where Socrates defines it as "service of the gods." When you heal, you are doing sacred work. The Gospels appeared 400 years after Plato, and yet they, too, emphasize the word therapeia, a word so important that it could identify the Gospel spirit wherever it appears. If you want to live the Gospel philosophy, you have to know what it takes to be a healer.

I understand that this word healer sometimes seems romantic, but in fact it represents a cold, clear, harsh reality. People suffer — emotionally, physically, spiritually, and relationally. They need help. From time to time we are all in need of healing, and we are all called to be healers.

There was a time in my life when I needed healing. I had just gone through a divorce. I was fired from my job as a college professor — the only career I wanted at the time and one in which I had invested years of study. I was so upset that I felt sick and sores appeared in my throat and mouth. In reaction, I became too dependent on a few close friends, and many people around me pitied me and told me, essentially, to grow up. But another friend, James Hillman, a Jewish man who had written many things critical of Christianity, visited me and gave me some food, a glass of wine, and some thoughtful, friendly counsel. I have never forgotten his generous response. From my point of view, he was a healer in the spirit of the Gospel.

Healing is an altruistic action, in the root sense of the word — other . You think about the other person's welfare. You are profoundly convivial, meaning that you "live with" others, not just for yourself. You heal because of your empathy for the suffering of the other.

In the Gospels, Jesus never frets about himself. He is always in response mode, noticing suffering of all kinds and responding to it with a healing word or touch."

The Hay House newsletter continues, "'Thomas Moore's groundbreaking reinterpretation of the Gospels shines a new light on the profound teachings of Jesus, offers readers a long-awaited, modern, practical application of the scripture, and illustrates the 21st-century relevance of Jesus' visionary philosophy,' says Deepak Chopra. Delve deeper into Thomas Moore's Writing in the Sand: Jesus & the Soul of the Gospels , available now at HayHouse.com. Thomas Moore is perhaps best known as the author of the New York Times bestseller Care of the Soul. His other works include Soul Mates and Life at Work. You can meet Thomas Moore this Fall when he makes a rare appearance to talk about the Gospels and healing at Hay House's I Can Do It! Conference in Tampa."

This description outlines Moore's presentation in Tampa on Sunday 22 November 2009, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.:

The Soul of Medicine
Through stories from Thomas Moore’s patients, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers, Thomas speaks to the importance of healing a whole person—body, soul, and spirit, a person with emotions, history, family, and work rather than simply treating a body. He gives advice to both healthcare providers and patients for maintaining dignity and humanity during illness and treatment. Providing spiritual guidance for dealing with feelings of mortality and depression, Thomas encourages patients to not only take an active part in the healing process, but also to view illness as a positive passage to new awareness and possibilities for life.

While we don’t fully understand the extent to which healing depends on attitude; a sense of meaning; a healing atmosphere; spirituality; and the support of family, friends, and community, it has been shown time after time that healing needs to focus on more than the body. The future of medicine is more than new technical developments and research discoveries; it lies also in appreciating the state of soul and spirit in illness!

Check out a recent a Barque: Thomas Moore Work post for an interview with Thomas Moore on Hay House Radio.

Listen to Moore talk about a university's soul

Ashley Dischinger describes Thomas Moore's presentation at Elon University on April 23, 2009, provides a link to a minute-long YouTube video, and shares this photograph of Moore, in her blog entry for today. Dischinger writes,

"Moore quoted the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclites in reference to the infinite possibilities that the soul has to offer.

“Heraclites says this: ‘You can never discover the limits of the soul,’” Moore quoted. "'No matter how many roads you are to take, so deep is its mystery.' So you can’t even define the soul."

Heraclites was one of the first people to discuss the soul in terms of death. Moore stresses the importance of thinking about the soul in these terms, though he admits it carries an "unfathomable depth." Still, he encourages the audience to reflect deeply about the state of their soul because "the closer you get to yourself, the closer you get to your soul."

Moore then applied this mentality to the idea of the university. He sees education as having the potential to offer more than just the obvious tools to students willing to learn.

"There is something of great depth in the soul of this place," he said. "We will never figure out what we are doing and who we are in this place. It will remain mysterious and that’s a good thing."

But rather than allow the mysteriousness give to frustration, Moore believes the university should strive to preserve its history. In this way, he says the university will maintain, rather than lose, its individuality and depth.

"This place is going to be like no other university," Moore said. "Don’t compare yourself to Harvard or the other places. Your soul can be lost. So it’s very important to maintain your individuality as a university."

According to Dischinger, Moore also "emphasized the importance of the university doing its best to prepare students beyond a shallow, intellectual education."

For another blogger's reaction to Moore's presentation, read "Telling Stories" by J. Ruth Kelly.

University education may be therapy for soul

Elon University’s student newspaper, The Pendulum, reports Thomas Moore’s presentation last night, "The Soul of the University."

Reporter Rebecca Smith quotes Moore, "Education, if it touches the student's soul, is a kind of therapeutics, in the sense that you are not just teaching and instructing the person, but the education itself can nurse the soul," Moore said. "It can give ideas to the student that will actually help them deal with life, and find out who they are. Education can do this, and maybe should do this."

"He said that the soul has a dark side, but that people often do not mention this darker side. He said he does not romanticize this soul and referenced his psychoanalysis work. Moore said the people who call him are all going through tough times, and that attention to our souls primarily happens when things are going badly.

"When it comes to the soul of the university, let's not romanticize it or sentimentalize it," Moore said. "Let's realize that people are having wonderful days and going through wonderful experiences, and they are going through terrifying and terrible experiences, and going through loss."

Smith touched on Moore’s references to the value of ignorance, the role of art, and contributions to community.

According to Smith, Moore also said he was at Elon University "to celebrate the career of Richard McBride, who is retiring at the end of this academic year." McBride is the university’s chaplain.

What is the difference between spirit and soul?

Today, Daphne Michaels, president and founder of the Vibrational Health Institute, posts Thomas Moore’s three-paragraph response to "What is the difference between spirit and soul?" on her eponymous blog. Moore talks about time and direction.

Moore speaks at Elon University this Thursday

Elon University promotes Thomas Moore’s appearance, Thursday 23 April 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in the Whitley Auditorium, when Moore will talk about "The Soul of the University":

"An education in soul would include preparation for a life work, contributing to society, making a home, marriage, raising children, illness, dealing with emotional and relationship issues, and developing a spiritual sensibility ... It would culture a person, give him depth, and prepare her for citizenship, leadership, and a rich life."

The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life is sponsoring this free event. The university's web site offers directions to the campus. Read an earlier Barque notice about this engagement.

Publishers Weekly reviews Writing in the Sand

Publishers Weekly reviews Thomas Moore’s newest book, Writing in the Sand: Jesus & the Soul of the Gospels in its newsletter's Non-fiction — Religion section for 13 April 2009:

Writing in the Sand by Thomas Moore
Hay House, $22.95 (168 pages)
ISBN 978-1-4019-2143-3

"Drawing on his background in theology, world religions, art history, psychology and mythology, author and psychotherapist Moore (Care of the Soul) proposes a fresh way of looking at the Christian gospels for those who once loved the texts, but no longer find them challenging. Moore believes the Jesus of the gospels was calling people to be open to life rather than attach themselves to a fixed teaching. He reframes the wedding feast at Cana — said to be the scene of Christ's first miracle — as "the first lesson in Jesus spirituality: Be human, understand the importance of play and simple sensual pleasures and listen to your family. Then go deeper." In Moore's reading of the gospels, Jesus himself is earthy and spiritual — a man clearly on the side of moderate sensual delight. Fans of Moore's previous books and readers who share his view that Jesus was not concerned with creating a religion or a plan for self-improvement, but was instead interested in a restructuring of the human imagination, will find plenty to ponder. (May 1)"