First she touted "The Secret."
[Recapturing Our Catholic Patrimony entry; Our Sunday Visitor article]
I was curious as to what other spiritual garbage she might be peddling so I tuned in today, and lo and behold, another program with "happiness" experts. Oprah is a woman with too much media power and influence for her own good. One of these experts was "Dr." Robert Holden of the Happiness Project. (The American site: Success Intelligence.) It doesn't take a guru to recognize that people are unhappy, being absorbed with materal things, work, and themselves--however, it takes a saint to show them the way to true happiness. Positive (or delusional) thinking is not happiness, it's another false form of pride--I am NOT the lord of the universe, and it is not my role to re-create the world in my image.
Encouraging people to pursue their dreams even if the pay isn't there may seem like "good" advice, but (1) what of their obligations to support others, and (2) what kind of economy subsidizes their activities? It's still "all about me"--there is no attempt to differentiate between good self-love and bad self-love.
Whom do you serve?
Vocation has been perverted by these self-help "experts," who talk about finding "significance" and "purpose," but there is no reference to the demands of justice, especially social justice. Again, I am not the source of my own role--rather God has called me to one, as my Lord and Creator. I don't expect to see any of these people criticizing the current economic system--they have too much invested interest in it, making use of the system to market their snake oil.
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