The popular series Chicken Soup For the Soul was first published in 1993 and everybody probably bought at least three copies. I, like many others eagerly read the first book, sort of read the next one, but that was the end. With over 100 titles in the series, I am betting that most folks do not buy them for themselves, but as gifts for others.
Robert Fulghum’s
You can approach this book as a source for inspiration as I did. I wanted to read a “lighter” book and got my wish. This was a very inspiring read and I took many things from it. Nothing earth shattering, just stuff we all know, but may need to be reminded of from time to time.
One humorous proposition was for a new religion:
“No hymns, no dues, no creeds, no preachers, and no potluck suppers. All you have to do is sit still. Once a day, for fifteen minutes, sit down, shut up, and be still. Like your mother told you. Amazing things might happen if enough people did this on a regular basis. Every chair, park bench, and sofa would become a church.”
I share a trait with Robert Fulghum. As a fellow list maker, I always make lists. He described one of his lists where he listed every good deed he had done for the previous year. Once he completed his tally, he turned it into his resolutions for that year and backdated the list. Mission accomplished.
One of the longer stories could be viewed as a modern day Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending. The families came together through the leadership of family elders to support the young couple.
“What the families had not understood until the end of the wedding was that they had many of the same values and traditions…They believed in family, faith, love, the same God, and the capacity to celebrate those things.”
I believe that goes for most of us in the United States and wrote about it. I his words, “It’s not the meaning OF life, It’s the meaning IN life.” Read my posting and read this book.
