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A short pamphlet delivers inspirational Christian motivations.
Fisher’s nonfiction debut offers a brief, tightly packed compendium of encouragements for readers who feel themselves overstressed by the modern world or adrift by personal problems, “shipwrecked by the storms of life,” and in need of some helpful advice. Her quick, 30-day cycle of chapters is designed to help readers find their inner power sources and channel that force through the serenity of daily meditation to alter their lives for the better, replacing fear, anger, and guilt with forgiveness, faith, love, and joy. Each “day” of her handbook consists of two or three quick paragraphs of thought about some aspect of life—the death of a loved one, the loss of certainty, the failure of health—and then a bullet-pointed clarifying resolution for readers, maxims of assurance or uplift intended to help them make “lofty choices rising out of the mud of hatred and self-indulgence.” One of Fisher’s repeated emphases involves the concept of helping readers find their own personal spiritual purposes and stick to them. She wants them always to ask, “Have I taken the time to define my purpose?”—and the path in all such cases is for believers to put their trust in God (the volume’s target audience obviously, but it gently excludes non-Christians and atheists). Many of the ruminations turn on Christian commonplaces like the pious trio of Faith, Hope, and Love, but the book’s plain and passionate diction mostly saves it from feeling derivative. These may be simple observations and encouragements, but they’re clearly held in complete sincerity. And the gist of these pages is not in any way passive—the faithful are reminded consistently that change will only come about as a result of their own efforts: “We do have a road map if we want to do the work,” the author writes. But, she notes, the infinite energy source of the divine that each believer can tap into makes the work of self-improvement easier, even joyful at times. A worthy, day-by-day guided devotional for Christian meditation. Reviewed by Hilary Hawkes for Readers' Favorite Peggy M Fisher's 30 Days of Healing Meditations is a very readable short book that suggests ideas for thoughts and meditations for thirty days. The book begins with the true story of how a young man with a mental health diagnosis was helped when he began to use meditation techniques. Then it progresses to a thirty-day program where each day has a theme or something to think about; for example, solitude, productive faith, patience, dealing with conflict, dealing with loss, our purpose, peace, love or facing our demons. The reader is encouraged to rediscover their inner connection with their true nature and their connection with their creator’s power by stepping away from the pace of everyday life and life’s stresses and developing their ability to meditate. In this state, we already have what we need to help ourselves. Writing and reading a positive affirmation for the day and journaling are also recommended. Short sections on the benefits of exercise, setting goals, and eating sensible diets are included too. I really liked this little book and can see it being a helpful starting point for people suffering from stress and anxiety and needing a doable and sensible method to help them deal with situations and their thoughts in a healthier way. Peggy Fisher is a qualified nurse with training in mental health and clinical psychiatry, so she knows how dwelling on negative thoughts and poor habits can keep people stuck in depressed states or cause them to spiral downwards in mood. Her meditation teaching and other techniques in this book are in keeping with the recommendations of other clinicians, research, and teachers. Peggy M Fisher's 30 Days of Healing Meditations also has a lovely common sense touch to it which I really liked; for example, accepting that no one is able to “get rid of” negative emotions, but we can learn to manage them, and learning to laugh at ourselves when appropriate. I liked the idea of creating your own healing tools (five affirmations that are personally meaningful, written on small cards to keep to hand). This little book includes many insightful words of wisdom and common sense advice, written in a very readable style and perfect for using on a daily basis or keeping to dip into from time to time. |
Search Lights for My Soul
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"Peggy Fisher shares her faith with her readers in a prose that few are capable of." - Debra Gaynor of Reader Views |
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