REVIEW: Theodore Orenstein — Awaken Your Soul (BOOK)
Theodore Orenstein’s new book is titled Awaken Your Soul: How to Find Your Inner Spirit and Life’s Purpose. While initially I thought the book was an evangelist’s work, I was pleasantly surprised to find Orenstein presents a tolerant, all-encompassing, interpretive view of his faith. The book isn’t supposed to convert you to one specific kind of theological thought.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: https://tedorenstein.com/
Rather, it offers a roadmap to how one can open themselves up to a smorgasbord of different faith tenets, by way of Orenstein’s own philosophy. It’s a welcome relief to someone dictating how you should think in this domain, rather settling for encouraging you to embrace something bigger than yourself. It doesn’t have to be just one, singular thing.
“This book is primarily for those people who have lost, or never had, ‘faith in God’, but who are still seeking true meaning and purpose in life; something greater than their daily existence. I have discovered the ultimate reality which all true religions and spiritual beliefs have at their core. I am writing this book so that I can pass on to you what I have learned and help you attain it yourself. Here I will show you how to receive the revelations I have received,” Orenstein states matter-of-factly.
He adds, “I am a child of the 20th and 21st centuries. I have found that I do not necessarily connect with books written thousands, or even hundreds of years ago. I also am a rational person who believes in science and history. I cannot accept a belief system which flies in the face of facts which have been discovered by science and history. I cannot believe in miracles which contradict what has been learned about the physical universe.”
By presenting himself as someone operating a religious philosophy from a contemporary understanding of the world, Orenstein instantly melts a sense of out-of-touchness, or excess religious zeal. There’s no denying you’re reading a book essentially serving as something that feels similar to The Bible, or Book of Mormon. But whereas the aforementioned volumes are introductory courses into a very specific, binary kind of religious thought, Orenstein remains somewhat removed from out-and-out proclamation of his faith.
He doesn’t immediately try to reel you in, rather he wishes to draw you in closer. There’s a sense of willful participation expected on behalf of the reader, an expectation they will use their brain and wrestle with the concepts he presents in a collaborative, cooperative manner. Part of this is because Orenstein never uses his faith to contest things we know to exist on a scientific plane in demonstrably existent reality. “I have found that the enlightening revelations I have received do not contradict science or my life experience,” he says. “Through them, I have discovered the spiritual path within me which connects me directly with Ultimate Reality.”
Whether or not you’re sold on Orenstein’s messaging is on you. But I admire the man’s willingness to present a grounded, neo-faith practice feeling worldly.
Colin Jordan
