Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Broken Gods: Hope Healing, and the Seven Longings of the Human Heart by Gregory K. Popcak, PhD

Don't let the title fool you, because it sounds almost blasphemous, but the author is speaking of gods, small g. The author, Dr. Popcak wants to help us be our best selves but not just in a superficial way of self help but in a deep soulful way of spirituality. I was skeptical at first upon introduction, although you can not argue with St Thomas Aquinas "The only begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods" Chapter two is where we start to understand about the seven longings of the human heart and how these align with the seven deadly sins, and the seven heavenly virtues. First it important to understand how the brain is most open to change when the mind experiences four qualities represented by COAL or curiosity, openness, acceptance and love.
By chapter four we have the format set for the rest of the book which is a desciption of the longing of the heart, how the deadly sins keep us from it and how specific virtues can help us counter this tendency and reach our hearts desire. Dr. Popcak is a counselor and it is evident in his approach to spirituality. I liked the format and thought the prompts at the end of each chapter would be helpful to revisit when you need support in a particular area of longings of the heart or to avoid a certain deadly sin.
I would recommend this book to you because I felt like I learned a lot. For instance being overzealous about your health and diet can also be the sin of gluttony or thinking you can attain salvation through the body. Broken Gods may be a little technical for some readers and steeped in pyschological terms but definitely a good read. This book is comforting in how it helps you to see your barriers to spiritual fulfillment and how to address them one at a time.

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