Simon & Schuster
1989
0-671-68026-9 0-7432-3477-4 (Pbk)
$13.00
"Here's a book about God and faith that is, surprisingly, ideal for the reader who has rejected religion." ~ Mademoiselle
"Thoughtful ... richly concrete ... Kushner invites his readers to rethink the role of religion [spirituality] in their lives."
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio)
"If you have lost faith or have never known it, or if you have ever wondered 'What can religion [or spirituality] offer?' here are wise and thoughtful answers. With the warmth, insight, and understanding that distinguished his phenomenal bestsellers When Bad Things Happen to Good People and How Good Do We Have to Be?,
Harold Kushner addresses a critical issue in the lives of many: a spiritual hunger that no personal success can feed. Rabbi Kushner shows how religious commitment does have a place in our daily lives, filling a need for connection, joy, and community.
For anyone who has ever wanted a more fulfilling life or wished to make a difference in the lives of others ... for anyone who has ever felt guilty, afraid, or alone ... Rabbi Kushner shares a path to faith that offers new sources of comfort and strength for all of us. Powerful, provocative, and persuasive. Who Needs God is a message of universal appeal.
Introduction: "I wrote this book because I had to. I love the religious tradition out of which I come and I love the several hundred members of the congregation I serve. The enduring frustration of my rabinnic career has been my inability to get my two loves to find and love each other."
"I deal with bright, successful people, people I genuinely like and admire, and I sense that something is missing in their lives. There is a lack of rootedness, a sense of having to figure things out by themselves because the past cannot be trusted as their guide. Their celebrations, from their children's birthday parties to a daughter's wedding to a busines milestone, can be lots of fun but rarely soar to the level of joy. And as they grow older, I suspect they either confront or actively hide from confronting the thought that 'there must be more to life than this'."
"There is a spiritual vacuum at the center of their lives, and their lives betray this lack of an organizing vision, a sense of 'this is who I am and what my life is fundemantally about'."
Table of Contents:
Does God Really Make a Difference?
Eyes with Which to See the World
Putting Out the Sacred Fires
What Makes Some Things Wrong
More Die of Lonliness
"They Will Mount Up with Wings as Eagles"
Can Modern People Pray
For Thou Art with Me
Why Is God So Hard to Find?
For those learning to use prayer and meditiation to improve their conscious contact with God as they understand him, this book is a valuable resource. "The thesis of this book is that there is a kind of nourishment our souls crave, even as our bodies need the right foods, sunshine, and exercise. Without that spiritual nourishment, our soulds remain stunted and undeveloped." p. 3
"This book contains what is most precious to me, the ideas and the affirmations on which I have based my life, the thoughts and guidelines whith which I have tried to help others bring depth and order into their lives. I hope you will not find it empty." p.5
" 'I don't believe in organized religion.' Paul was a child of the sixties... He told me 'I believe in God. I believe in being kind to people, treating them right, not hurting them. I believe in trying to make the world a better place. But I don't see why you need churches and synagogues., fancy buildings that are always looking for money. I don't see why you need professional clergy (nothing personal, Rabbi), prayer books, organized services, rules and rituals that nobody understands. I don't see why you need so many different religious, all arguing with each other. Why isn't it enough just to tell everybody to be nice to each other?' He and I spoke for about an hour ... This book is written for Paul, the bright, idealistic young man who asked why we need more than the commandment to be nice for each other." p.9-10