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The Secret

Sometime ago I encountered the Secret by way of my little sister, whose book club was considering it for a group read. I was like, what is this secret all about? She couldn't explain the secret, all she could say was that she heard that good things started to happen to people after they read it. I thought, a book with magical powers? This must be some new age or occult business...So, I decided to do a quick google of the thing and not being able to get to the gist of the thing after 30 minutes, I advised that this probably was not the most appropriate book for young teenage girls. I have since had opportunity, not to read the book or watch the film, but to explore the resources on the site and watch a few related videos on YouTube. What follows below is my non-theological review of the secret:

First 20minutes of 'The Secret'- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8

What works...
One thing that the Secret definitely has going for it is persuasive appeal and advertising genius. The whole concept of the Secret is built on the notion that there exists this piece of advice or knowledge that has been 'suppressed, hidden, yet coveted', throughout history. Further, the claim is that all of our greatest innovators knew 'the secret' and we would be astonished to know that they all had this knowledge in common. From Einstein to the Wright Brothers; they all knew this secret. It reminds me of those many stories out there surrounding the magical powers of the davinci code and the holy grail. Think about it...it is enticing to know that you can possess something that was only made available to a few privileged persons, even if it is now being made available to everybody (at a small cost). It is enticing to know that you have the power to possess anything you want.

The Power of the Universe
So while we are continuing...what then is the secret? Apparently, the secret is the Law of Attraction. Basically the Law is a formalization of the statements 'Be careful what you wish for','You are what you think' and 'You can make your own wishes come true'. It stems from the belief that the Universe possesses 'a Power' that all human beings have access to and that all we have to do as humans is channel our requests to the Universe and the Universe will (or should?) deliver. They say it's like the Law of Gravity...in the same way that once we throw a ball into the air, gravity automatically acts upon it, it is the same way that once we release our requests the Power in the Universe will take over. Hmmm...

Some Claims Made by The Law of Attraction
-Every thought has a frequency
-Thoughts send out a frequency that draw a parallel back to you
-It always works
-It works every time with every person
-It doesn't care whether the thought is bad or good
-It is really obedient

The Power of Your Thoughts
If you look at it from a human perspective the reasoning seems to make sense. If you think positively good things will happen to you and if you think negatively bad things will come your way.What's wrong with that?  Think about it...there may very well have been certain instances where you had to embrace this logic, maybe in an attempt to convert somebody who was wallowing in doom and gloom. I mean, there are persons we know who could certainly use a lift in their thought lives. There is a place for being aware of and taking control of our thoughts but...

The Problem
The trouble I have is that if it is a law like gravity then it should be absolute, meaning we should always expect the same outcomes given the same variables, every time. But in applying the law to some real life everyday situations, things just don't seem to work like that , in absolute terms. The law would not for example be able to explain why 'good things happen to pessimists' and 'bad things happen to optimists'. Why is it that we sometimes expect bad things to happen in a situation, but something good and unexpected happens instead? Or why is it that we think and wish for something good to happen but to no avail? Is it that the Universe could not deliver at the time? Or mixed up the requests? I am more inclined to believe that this absoluteness as being expressed through this law of attraction is in reality foreign to our universe. Something seems to be missing here...


~Live Life, Love God, One Encounter at a Time~
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