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The writers in this optimistic anthology didn't want to buy into the typical doomsayer theories and gloomy forecasts when imagining the future of America. Instead, editor Marianne Williamson assembled a soul-stirring gospel choir to sing out vivid, uplifting songs of hope and imagination. When contributor John Robbins imagines the typical family meal in the year 2030, he serves organic food bought from the local farmer's market and lovingly prepared by enthusiastic family members--even teenagers. This may sound like pie-in-the-sky talk, but Robbins backs it up with a solid plan that could lead to better diets, healthier food production, and even end world hunger.

One of the most profound essays comes from Fred Branfman, who writes about "Legacies." He makes a convincing case for imagining the faces of future generations and taking responsibility now to ensure the health of their world. Other excellent contributions include Eric Utne (editor of Utne Reader magazine) speaking on a new media that becomes "the connective tissue" in our culture, emphasizing community, debate, and conversation. Iyanla Vanzant imagines "Civility," Bell Hooks gives voice to21st-century sexuality, and John Bradshaw sees the future family. Even if you only time travel from your armchair, this is a future you'll want to spend a lifetime creating. --Gail HudsonBook Description
America's foremost visionaries offer a prescriptive plan for what every person can, and must, do to create a better future for themselves and the world.

"People sense we are at a time of amazing change, and with change comes opportunities for both breakthrough and breakdown. If we do nothing, breakdown is the most probable course that the future will reflect. Breakthrough will take conscious effort. We can invoke the future we want." -Marianne Williamson

The most creative contemporary thinkers in the country unite in the pages of Imagine. Their purpose is to inspire individuals to take positive action right now to impact the future. Each of these gifted minds offers a thoroughly original essay on what America could—and should—be like as the new century unfolds. Divided into six sections—The Soul of a Nation, Pillars, The Rewoven Fabric, To Whom We Belong, In God We Trust, and The New Civitas—Imagine addresses "Inner America" by showing readers how to elevate their personal lives, and "Outer America" by challenging them to impact the very foundations of civilization. Imagine suggests concrete actions that every person can take to create a brighter, more enriching future for themselves and their communities. Covering specific topics such as health, the environment, education, religion, the economy, politics, and passion, the authors hope that Imagine will inspire positive cultural transformation across the country. To promote that vision, all author royalties will go to the nonprofit Global Renaissance Alliance, an organization that encourages social awareness, political activism, and spiritual empowerment.

Imagine's inspirational message is also provocative and controversial in its call to action. The authors discuss the cultural and political trends of the 20th century that should not be allowed to continue in the 21st. Thought-provoking and eloquent, Imagine is the manifesto for a utopian future that everyone in America needs to read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

The Most Inspiring Collection of Thinkers Ever!
This is a great book, that is doubly-powerful (no TRIPLY, no QUADRUPALLY powerful!) because so many inspiring thinkers are in it: from Deepak Chopra to Neale Donald Walsch, from James Redfield to Anne Lamott.And these thinkers come from all sectors of society:from John Robbins, a whistle-blower of the food industry, to the actor Peter Coyote; from Eric Utne, founder of the Utne Reader, to educator Dee Dickenson.What Marianne Williamson has assembled is a collection of ideas covering all sectors of society representing the viewpoints of very unique individuals each with differing backgrounds.And the beauty of this diversity is that all the contributors are unified in fundamental ways, all visualizing a more accepting, more loving, more grounded future that can truly celebrate the individual.It is a vision of what can WORK given our true natures, and given the tuggings of our soul for a more love-based world.Everyone in the world ought to read this book!If you're skeptical, go ahead and buy it and try it out.You'll be glad you did, even if it provides fodder for a time for all the reasons you dislike new-agey spiritual types.And for all of you who like me are already new-agey spiritual types, or compassionate open-hearted types, go ahead and check this book out, because you're going to love it!

Utopia Means "Nowhere"
We can all agree that the world would be a nicer place with more personal connection, a real sense of community, freedom to pursue dreams, security to safeguard those dreams, pluralistic tolerance, etc, etc. I do. But in a haphazard series of essys, beyond platitudes and some bad science fiction, I see little in the way of real thinking about the problems that confront the world, or well-reasoned, rigorously analytical responses to those problems. Instead, they range from the laughable to the dangerous--see one author proposing a monolithic Department of Peace with millions of officers devoted to everything from crime to regulation of interpersonal communication to domestic life to workplace interactions. How can somebody who claims allegience to personal freedom cry out for something so Orwellian? These liberal-minded egalitarian essayists would invest more unilateral power in government than John Ashcroft ever had wet dreams about.

The prose, often stilted, blowsy, pretentious or oblivious to its own ridiculousness, is workmanlike. To those that seek out the book, the pronouncements will be comforting. The implementation of its ideas--imagine!--will not be.

Vastly More Practical (and Political) Than Title Suggests

I almost did not buy this book, and I say that because an awful lot of really smart folks might be inclined to turn away on the basis of the title and the possibility that this is a fairy tale wishful-thinking la la land kind of book.It is not.It is practical (and political), it is enriching, and it is over-all a very high quality endeavor that has been well executed.

Four "great truths" are articulated many times over across the various readings, and they merit listing here:

1)Campaign finance reform is the absolute non-negotiable first step that must precede every other reform.Until the people can reassert their great common sense for the common good, and restore the true democratic tradition, nothing else will happen.

2)Neighborhoods are the bedrock of both democracy and sustainable development, and we have spent fifty years building in the wrong direction.New legal and economic incentives must be found to redirect both urban and suburban real estate management back in the direction of self-contained neighborhoods.

3)Local production of everything, from electricity to food to major goods like automobiles) appears to be a pre-requisite for deconflicting high quality of life needs from limited resource availability.The book includes several very intelligent discussions of how this might come about.

4)Networking makes everything else possible, and by this the book means electronic networking.I was especially fascinated by some of the examples of near-real-time sharing that electronic networking makes possible--everything from a neighborhood car to scheduled hand-me-downs of winter coats from one family to another.We have not progressed one mile down the road of what the Internet makes possible at a personal and neighborhood level, and I would recommend this book for that perspective alone.

The creative editorial role must be applauded.From the identification and recruitment of the contributors, to the selection of the photographs that each tell their own story, to the quality of the paper used to create the book, all testify to the competence and knowledge of the editor.

Lastly, it merits comment that the book serves as a very fine calling card from something called The Global Renaissance Alliance, a spiritually-oriented group that nurtures Citizens Circles and uses a web site to provide pointers to resources and other like-minded folk.

Articulating Paths to Improvement
Developing scenarios for how worthy goals might be accomplished is one of the best ways that people make progress.The circumstances never end up being like that, but the insights prove to be worthwhile nevertheless.This thought-provoking book of essays uses that method to come up with many worthwhile observations and useful ideas.If you know the particular essayist's work, in most cases you won't find much new.Some, however, have created new materials that are extremely insightful.

The volume's main weaknesses are two:the viewpoints of the essays' authors aren't varied enough, and the "desirable" outcomes are too easily assumed in many cases.I graded this brilliant book concept down two stars for these weaknesses in execution.

Almost anyone would find benefits from reading this book.Even if you disagree with its premises, you will end up learning about the thinking of a lot of America's top authors.

I was honored to receive this book as a gift from one of my sons, reflecting his knowledge of my desire for assisting social progress through personal effort.

The book contains almost 40 essays, grouped into the following sections:

The Soul of a Nation (What it means to be an American)

Pillars (The basics that we need to flourish from health to meaningful work)

The Rewoven Fabric (Community and identity)

To Whom We Belong (Our relationships and ways of relating from family to divorce to aging)

In God We Trust (Spirituality)

The New Civitas (The new American governmental system)

Each author was asked to think about America 50 years from now in creating a more positive environment.Two essays in the group stood out to me in capturing the essence of the issues throughout the book.The first was by Peter Senge (of Fifth Discipline fame).He points out that there are three ways to think about the future.First, extrapolate current trends.That doesn't work, because "aspects of our present ways of living . . . are not sustainable."Second, we can create a vision of the opposite of something we don't like now.He calls this "reactive imagination."This is "only a disguised version of the present."He correctly points out that many of the essays are of this nature.Third, we can "become agents of creating a future that is seeking to emerge, by becoming more aware of the present.""How did we get where we are?" is a question that begins this investigation.From those roots, we can help establish the foundation for moving into a better direction.

If you read this book, start with Senge's essay.The book will make a lot more sense if you do.It will give you a star to guide by.This essay inexplicably begins on page 167, rather than at the beginning.

The second key essay is at the end by Margaret J. Wheatley (starting on page 401).She did a little experiment.She recruited a group of teenagers to think through these questions about what they want for 50 years from now.Basically, they want a fairer, more cooperative, and more sustaining world.They see a "networked, boundaryless world" unconstrained by the geographical and psychological limits of America.Read this essay second.It gets past a lot of the personal agendas in most of the essays into touching closer to what is universal in our visions.Young people always seem to get these points best.

Few of the essays made it into Senge's third category.As I read the better ones (such as those by Dean Ornish, Lance Secretan, and Peter Gabel), I came away with a vision of our suffering from poor decisions because people are not yet good at thinking through the consequences of their daily decisions.We optimize what is visible and closest to us, even when the distance effects (in time and space) are vastly counterproductive to the modest benefits we receive from what we choose to do today.(An example is eating poor quality food to save money individually, and having society incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs to "repair" us from our own misguided "money-saving" efforts.)

In a sense, I came away with the notion that if we all learned from Senge and Wheatley, it wouldn't take long to arrive at a better society for all.After you master those lessons, be sure to read Sam Daley-Harris's fine essay on "Activism."

Make the future into what it can best be, consistent with the visions of both those who agree with you . . . and those who do not!Read Thomas Moore's views on "Religion" for useful thoughts about this perspective.

Imagine a better world in Peter Senge's third way!

More old age BS from Eric
Searching for knowledge and acting prideful as if knowledge was really stacking up--that's the old age--people not in tune listening to people not in tune for their knowledge based on reasonand rational.

NOW the old age gurus have finally discovered something worth listening to--they don't really know anything and never did using logical, rational observations. They say intuition is the only way to truth or real knowledge.

The leaders have changed and the followers still follow the old proven to be wrong advice.

Relax Eric, relax your poor overworked mind and let the real knowledge make itself known to you.

History is falling away like a bad dream--Goodbye great thinkers--hello great Lovers. ... Read more

Book Description
It seems no mother of a newborn has ever been more hilarious, more honest, or more touching than Ann Lamott is in OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS. A single parent whose baby's father is out of the picture, Lamott struggles not only to support her little family by her wits and her writing, but to stay sober at the same time. Faith in God helps; so does her loyal band of helpers, from her childless best friend Pammy to her mother and "Aunt Dudu" to the folks at the La Leche League hotline. And between colic, wheat-free diets, and the triumph of solid food, Lamott learns that blessings and losses come together, and that as our capacity for joy increases, so does our capacity for grief.
"An enormous triumph . . . Charming . . . Powerful . . . A gracious book, with dozens of lovingly drawn characters and a deep, infectious religiosity throughout. It is also funny." -- San Francisco Chronicle
"Smart, funny and comforting . . . Lamott has a conversational style that perfectly conveys her friendly, self-deprecating humor." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review


From the Trade Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Possibly the funniest book I've ever read
Someone gave this (in paperback) to my sister for her baby shower. She called and read passages to me. Then she gave it to me...and I called people and read passages to them. It is possibly the funniest book I've ever read - and you certainly don't need to be a new parent -- or a parent at all (I'm not) -- to enjoy it. Whenever I'm depressed I pull this out and re-read it. She's so honest about her craziness that she makes it feel OK - and makes me feel a lot saner. Enjoy! ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Presbyterian Record, published by Presbyterian Record on October 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1915 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Why I make Sam go to church.
Author: Anne Lamott
Publication: Presbyterian Record (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 1999
Publisher: Presbyterian Record
Volume: 123Issue: 9Page: 22-4

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
It seems no mother of a newborn has ever been more hilarious, more honest, or more touching than Ann Lamott is in OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS. A single parent whose baby's father is out of the picture, Lamott struggles not only to support her little family by her wits and her writing, but to stay sober at the same time. Faith in God helps; so does her loyal band of helpers, from her childless best friend Pammy to her mother and "Aunt Dudu" to the folks at the La Leche League hotline. And between colic, wheat-free diets, and the triumph of solid food, Lamott learns that blessings and losses come together, and that as our capacity for joy increases, so does our capacity for grief.
"An enormous triumph . . . Charming . . . Powerful . . . A gracious book, with dozens of lovingly drawn characters and a deep, infectious religiosity throughout. It is also funny." -- San Francisco Chronicle
"Smart, funny and comforting . . . Lamott has a conversational style that perfectly conveys her friendly, self-deprecating humor." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review


From the Trade Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Possibly the funniest book I've ever read
Someone gave this (in paperback) to my sister for her baby shower. She called and read passages to me. Then she gave it to me...and I called people and read passages to them. It is possibly the funniest book I've ever read - and you certainly don't need to be a new parent -- or a parent at all (I'm not) -- to enjoy it. Whenever I'm depressed I pull this out and re-read it. She's so honest about her craziness that she makes it feel OK - and makes me feel a lot saner. Enjoy! ... Read more