Peace Pilgrim (Peace Pilgrim)
Inspiring but Polyannish
[My 4-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words" by Peace Pilgrim.]
A member of my Facebook group, Electrical-Hermetic Christianity, suggested I read and review “The Peace Pilgrim,” and so I did.
I found the book an uplifting but deficient read. Though I have great admiration for the Peace Pilgrim, Mildrette Lisette Norman (1908-1981), a saintly woman who spent years walking tens of thousands of miles across America promoting the message of peace, I hardly agree with the entirety of her message, which I find somewhat superficial.
Peace Pilgrim believed she was divinely protected and cited personal experiences to support her belief. She wrote, “I do have a complete sense of protection… You see, I’ve had such amazing things happen to me, you can understand why I feel full of absolute protection.” Her “protection,” however, ended ingloriously when she was killed in a car accident.
Although, like Peace Pilgrim, I firmly believe in peace and abhor war, I have a hard time accepting many of her spiritual” viewpoints. For example, she believed that “war is contrary to the will of God.” I don’t second her belief. Further, she believed that the creator God is “truth, love, goodness, kindness.” Is God “kind” when he wipes out a hundred thousand people in a single Tsunami wave? Real God, hypercosmic Being outside time, space, and creation, is Love, but the creator God, the Demiurge, is a mixed bag, that impersonally creates and destroys worlds and people. But Peace Pilgrim, a surface-level mystic, never makes the distinction between Real God and the creator God.
In addition to being a surface-level mystic who doesn’t disclose any penetrating insights about the Life Divine, a la Sri Aurobindo or Meister Eckhart, Peace Pilgrim fails to provide any significant information about her life before she became Peace Pilgrim. These two shortcomings lessen the weight of the book.
In summary, this is a heart-warming and inspiring read, for one can only praise a woman who gives up all worldly possessions to embark on an altruistic journey as a wandering renunciate preaching peace and providing selfless service for those in need. But if you are interested in profound spiritual philosophy, esoteric mysticism, and/or practical real-world solutions to end wars and bring about world peace, don’t expect to have your interests satisfied from this book.
[My 4-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words" by Peace Pilgrim.]
A member of my Facebook group, Electrical-Hermetic Christianity, suggested I read and review “The Peace Pilgrim,” and so I did.
I found the book an uplifting but deficient read. Though I have great admiration for the Peace Pilgrim, Mildrette Lisette Norman (1908-1981), a saintly woman who spent years walking tens of thousands of miles across America promoting the message of peace, I hardly agree with the entirety of her message, which I find somewhat superficial.
Peace Pilgrim believed she was divinely protected and cited personal experiences to support her belief. She wrote, “I do have a complete sense of protection… You see, I’ve had such amazing things happen to me, you can understand why I feel full of absolute protection.” Her “protection,” however, ended ingloriously when she was killed in a car accident.
Although, like Peace Pilgrim, I firmly believe in peace and abhor war, I have a hard time accepting many of her spiritual” viewpoints. For example, she believed that “war is contrary to the will of God.” I don’t second her belief. Further, she believed that the creator God is “truth, love, goodness, kindness.” Is God “kind” when he wipes out a hundred thousand people in a single Tsunami wave? Real God, hypercosmic Being outside time, space, and creation, is Love, but the creator God, the Demiurge, is a mixed bag, that impersonally creates and destroys worlds and people. But Peace Pilgrim, a surface-level mystic, never makes the distinction between Real God and the creator God.
In addition to being a surface-level mystic who doesn’t disclose any penetrating insights about the Life Divine, a la Sri Aurobindo or Meister Eckhart, Peace Pilgrim fails to provide any significant information about her life before she became Peace Pilgrim. These two shortcomings lessen the weight of the book.
In summary, this is a heart-warming and inspiring read, for one can only praise a woman who gives up all worldly possessions to embark on an altruistic journey as a wandering renunciate preaching peace and providing selfless service for those in need. But if you are interested in profound spiritual philosophy, esoteric mysticism, and/or practical real-world solutions to end wars and bring about world peace, don’t expect to have your interests satisfied from this book.
