angels and dummies
In the supermarket checkout line the other day I found my attention caught—grabbed, violently abducted—by a book that at first I thought was entitled The Idiot's Guide to Connecting with Your Angels. Really?! In fact, I was mistaken: the correct Idiot's Guide branding makes it "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Connecting with Your Angels". An important distinction! I do wonder, though, if complete modifies guide or idiot—that is, is it a complete guide for idiots or a guide for complete idiots? Either way.
Obviously, the publishers of the Idiot's Guides or the more popular For Dummies series don't really mean it when they tell their audiences that they're stupid: they only mean to suggest that their books will present the subject in question in such a fashion that anyone will be able to grasp it. I'm sure I don't need to clarify that for you. I will point out, however, that while in many cases dumbing-down a difficult subject for an uncomprehending audience endures only that your book will be a complete waste of effort (Biochemistry For Dummies, for example, sounds doubtful, while Cosmetic Surgery For Dummies is just scary), in this case I would posit that it is in fact only the idiot who would make a daily practice of communicating with angels. In other words, this book is a perfect fit!
Now, before anyone gets too offended (or not offended enough) let me make it clear that I am in fact a Christian who prays daily. So I obviously draw the crazy-line at a particular point, and it might not be where other folks place it. To my mind, however, it seems likely that if there are in fact angels, the best methods of communicating with them are not likely to be found in a mass-market text, even one written by someone who has "written spiritual columns for... Playboy, AARP: The Magazine, and Family Circle."
Seriously. That's what his bio says. You just cannot make up something that awesome.
Nevertheless, I would suggest that if you happen to be in search of angels in order to "gain... invaluable knowledge of their abilities to bring clarity, perspective, and healing in one's life," you look first to the Bible—or at least to commentary by an author who demonstrates some spiritual clarity and perspective in their own life and work. And it might not be easy going. After all, William Blake—who saw and wrote about angels from an early age—once wrote that "That which can be made Explicit to the Idiot is not worth my care."
comments
It must take a very talented author who can teach dummies of all breeds... I mean, my guess is that angels may be slightly different in the minds of Playboy readers compared to Family Circle subscribers. Just saying...
A perfect fit! Synergy if you will!!!
From For Dummies to William Blake... you sure are well read, Danny.