1 Book Review: Eat, Pray, Love

Book Description:
In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want - husband, country home, successful career - but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion.  This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place.  Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to examine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. 

My Review:
Last summer, I picked up the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert as a fun beach read.  When I opened the cover to begin reading this memoir of Liz's travels to Italy, India, and Indonesia, the aspiring traveler in me was looking forward to reading about these wonderful places that she visited.  If I could travel the world for a year I would do it in a heartbeat.  Unfortunately for me, I do not have the money or the time to check out of my Alabama home for a whole year so I decided to live this dream through her delightful experience.  As Liz traveled across the globe, she was searching her soul for a balance between God, inner peace, and everything in between.  She tells her story with honesty and wittiness; which made her vulnerable to her audience.  Whenever a storyteller wears their heart on their sleeve, I am hooked.  I would much rather read a book that has true feelings and emotions rather than a fantasy world that I will never live in.  As Liz searches for God on her bathroom floor, I understand the exact emotion that she is feeling.  When she goes on a "No Carb Left Behind" diet I decide to eat pizza for dinner just because she made it sound so good.  While Gilbert travels to India, I find myself interested in learning about her Guru and her teachings because those beliefs are different from my own.  Finally, as Liz finds her balance in Bali, I am reminded that life is about learning to love who we are.

Recommendation:
To begin this book, Liz states her religious beliefs.  *She says, "Culturally, though not theologically, I'm a Christian.  I was born a Protestant of the white Anglo-Saxon persuasion.  And while I do love that great teacher of peace who was called Jesus, and while I do reserve the right to ask myself in certain trying situations what indeed He would do, I can't swallow that one fixed rule of Christianity insisting that Christ is the only path to God.  Strictly speaking, then, I cannot call myself a Christian.  I have always responded with breathless excitement to anyone who has ever said that God does not live in a dogmatic scripture or in a distant throne in the sky, but instead abides very close to us indeed - much closer than we can imagine, breathing right through our own hearts.  I respond with gratitude to anyone who has ever voyaged to the center of that heart, and who has then returned to the world with a report for the rest of us that God is an experience of supreme love."  When I first read these words, I became a bit uncomfortable because I realized that I was reading a book that did not directly coincide with my beliefs.  As a Christian, I believe that Jesus is the way, and the truth and the life and no one can come to the Father except through him (John 14:6).  Early into this book I was faced with a decision: Do I read a book that doesn't share my belief on God or not?  I decided that I would continue to read this book because I was strong enough in my Christian belief to recognize that others have different viewpoints than I do and I was interested to learn what views she had on God.

As I read the book, I found myself agreeing and disagreeing with her thoughts; especially when she visited the Ashram in India.  When she arrived at her Ashram, she sang a morning prayer that said, "I adore the cause of the universe...I adore the one whose eyes are the sun, the moon and fire...you are everything tome, O god of gods..."   In the Old Testament of the Bible, it clearly states that "You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" (Exodus 20:3-4).  Even though I disagree with the Sanskrit that she recited, I do agree with her that the practice of mediation and prayer can bring us closer to God.  While she chose Eastern meditation; I am a believer in Christian meditation.  **In the book, Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster explains the difference in these two as Eastern meditation being an attempt to empty the mind and Christian meditation is an attempt to fill the mind.  He says that what happens in meditation is that we create the emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in the heart.  Simply put, Christian meditation is the ability to hear God's voice and obey his word.  Many times, meditation is mentioned in the Bible (Gen. 24:63, Ps. 63:6, Ps. 119:148, Ps.1:2) as a way for us to seek guidance from God and to listen for his direction.  In regards to prayer, I agree with Gilbert when she states, "Prayer is a relationship; half the job is mine."  Foster states that, "In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God's thoughts after him: to desire the things he desires, to love the things he loves, to will the things he wills.  Progressively, we are taught to see things from his point of view."

In conclusion, I would recommend this book but I do want to point out that it does not directly correspond with the teachings of Christianity.  If you are struggling in your walk with Christ, this book might not be the best to read at this time because it does not coincide with the major points of Christianity which is the belief that we worship only one true God, Jesus is the way to our Father, and the belief that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit make up the Holy Trinity.  Also, some R language is sprinkled throughout the book but it is not heavy handed.  I will probably go see the movie because I enjoy Julia Roberts and I also like to see if the movie is the same as the book.  Altogether, I enjoyed reading this memoir because it provided me the opportunity to learn about another persons' search for God and I was able to recognize that I could read this book without totally agreeing with her views.  We are all in search for inner peace and after closing this book I confirmed that my peace is found in Christ.

Till next time, let your light shine!

Blessings, christen

*Eat, Pray, Love. Elizabeth Gilbert, 2006. Penguin Books.
**Celebration of Discipline. Richard Foster, 1978. Harper Collins Publishers.

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