I've
read The Journey several times and continue to refer to it
whenever it feels appropriate. What most struck me about the
book at first reading, and what continues to draw me in each
time I pick it up, is the deep sense of humility that comes
across in almost every line.
The Journey is Arnold Patent "unplugged," like King Lear
in the storm scene or Job standing before the Whirlwind. You
give the reader a welcomed sense that Arnold is right down
there with us in the human experience, often just as
bewildered and feeling the victim and unsettled like any one
of us.
You're not trying to level out the feelings in the human
experience, or prescribing right behavior to correct what
seems like an unacceptable situation. The Journey is far
more powerful and supportive to the reader who is committed
to opening up the beauty and joy of expanding the Soul
awareness in the human.
You Can Have It All is powerful because it's "truth is
simple" -- no apologies for the style and feeling quality.
You also had to establish the vocabulary of this simple
truth in the first book so we could all share with one
another. But there was still an arm's-length quality to it
(and with the other subsequent books) that gave the
impression that while Arnold is the ideal and articulate
mentor, he is probably beyond most of the pain, despair,
etc. that the rest of us feel on a daily basis, and has
attained a higher level of existence.
The Journey guides us through the Principles using Arnold
as the subject. The candor and humility with which you
present your own experiences lets us know that all of us,
even Arnold, can feel overwhelmed at times, particularly
when we acknowledge that all that we see is ourselves.
Your personal experiences are also instructive because
they demonstrate that everything, no matter how apparently
insignificant, is information mirroring our state of
consciousness and limited beliefs. From the World Trade
Center to shingles to termite droppings, it's all supportive
and all significant. What better way to express and
experience the richness and power of being in the moment,
and all that is presented to us in that glorious moment.
I regard The Journey as the clearest and most
approachable expression of Principle after You Can Have It
All. You've given us all so many powerful gifts Arnold with
each of your books, seminars, etc. The Journey pulls
everything I know from and of you together and pulls it down
to that sweet sense of humility that was only there in the
background of the earlier works.