Wisdom’s Game by Judi Thomases
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
With JOY as my onging theme for this website for 2010, I could not avoid reading and reviewing Wisdom’s Game: How to Change Life’s Pain into Joy. So I don’t think it was a coincidence that I purchased this book last June at my Douglass College Reunion when the author and I were part of the Author’s Corner. (I presented my children’s book A Tale from Tarpiluvka.)
Author Judi Thomases, as the back cover notes, is the founder of a women’s spiritual network for meditation, teaching, and personal development. In 1997, Judi began to hear the “voices” of her spirit guides who have guided her in healing and helping others.
Because I have read A Course in Miracles and am now reading The Disappearance of the Universe, Judi’s book fits right into my thoughts about why we suffer and how to find joy. Perhaps by listing a few of her previews before each chapter, you will begin to grasp how Thomases guides us to greater joy. The statements below are direct quotes:
Wisdom teaches us that, while temporary pain is normal, continual suffering over its cause isn’t necessary. We can instantly change our thought to take things more lightly.
The struggle of growing is what life’s about. Enjoy it!
Use life to learn wisdom—of any type, but especially that of learning to be loving. Value even the painful efforts as badges of the struggle toward enlightenment.
Pain and sorrow –the causes of fear- are necessary to prevent life on Earth from seeming like a pleasant but unreal dream. They are also essential precursors to the most intense joy.
As I was typing these quotes, I realized that they are hard to believe. How can pain lead to joy? The answer to that is the three (easy) steps described in Chapter Eleven: sensing spirit’s presence, then overcoming skepticism to digest the teaching being given, and finally realizing that you are of the very same spiritual nature as your guides.
If you believe that all of us are divine and made in the image of the creator, by whatever name you call that, then this book will give you hope for the future, because the author notes that humanity is now in the stage of the overall creation in which the divine will reveal itself, bringing joy to us all.
This book may seem a little “far out” to many of you, but after reading it, I realized Thomases message of hope and joy is sincere and from her heart. The possibility of hope and joy are worth exploring!
Judi Thomases’ Wisdom’s Game is published by Cypress House. The cost is $12.95 and is available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and directly from Cypress House (800) 773-7782.
