Marianne Williamson: New Age Guru-ette

Sunday morning, I heard the following from the pulpit:

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Here is an example of how to make lies believable, even to a Catholic priest, by tossing in a few kernels of truth and sprinkling the whole thing with an optimistic sugar coating. Notice the subtle changes to ideas that have their roots in Scripture: the slight shift here, the tiny emphasis there, the minute change in contour all around, until we have only a scriptural veneer over...what? It is true that we are children of God (through Baptism). It is true that we are to let our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. It is true that God calls all men to repentance, and that He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth. It is true that we influence others by how we live our lives: this is why Jesus warns us so sternly about giving scandal. But do we really have, as this passage suggests, the power to do all of this on our own? Is it we who shall renew the face of the earth? Does the author of this passage mean the same thing by "God" that the Church means? John 15:5: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." The above passage is therefore a lie.

It is precisely this sort of lie that the author, Marianne Williamson, specializes in. This New Age guru-ette, who endorses teaching transcendental meditation in schools, gay "marriage", abortion, and thinks positive thinking is all it takes to achieve world peace, can have nothing to say that is worth hearing during a homily at Mass. But you need not take my word for it: here is the woman herself, in her own words, the theme of all of which is that the power to renew the face of the earth belongs to us:

More of Williamson's thoughts on how to achieve world peace: A Course in Miracles says that God does not give us victory in battle; rather, He lifts us above the battlefield. Our greatest spiritual contribution to this moment is to remember, in the words of the Course, that "beyond this world is a world I want." Beyond this three dimensional reality where the horrors of war are raging, there is another field of possibility alive in the Mind of God. Our work as individuals is to claim that world beyond this one, with passion and conviction; it is a world in which Jews and Arabs and Christians -- and everyone else as well -- are united not through the body but through the spirit. Close your eyes and see with your Inner Eye what the newspapers cannot show you. See the light within every Israeli, the light within every Palestinian and Lebanese, the light within every human heart, emerge from the center of their souls and then merge into One. See this, hold onto the vision, pray that it become a reality on the face of the earth, and then surrender it into the hands of God. [Psalm 144:9-10: I will sing a new song to thee, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to thee, who givest victory to kings, who rescuest David thy servant.]

Williamson on miracles: What the world needs now is a miracle, and it is miracles to which we are all entitled. For miracles occur naturally as expressions of love; they are in fact the natural order of the world when the mind is in its natural state. Our task, quite simply, is to love in a way that we have never loved before. Let us love even those with whom we do not agree, perhaps even those whom we might think we hate. Let us love them not personally, of course, but impersonally. Let us reach for the Love of God within us, that we might reach the Love of God within them. Let us all awaken to a higher truth, that we might be subconscious awakeners. [James 4:3: You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.]

Williamson on becoming a loving human race: It does seem like it would take a miracle to turn the world in a more peaceful, sustainable direction. But from a metaphysical perspective...we have one of two choices. Our destiny is to become a purely loving human race. But how we get there is completely up to us. [Matthew 19:16-17: And behold, one came up to Him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" And He said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."]

Williamson on prayer: A daily spiritual practice is so, so important. ACIM [A Course in Miracles], Transcendental meditation, whatever...those are the kinds of ways we quiet the mind and reconnect to our own Internal Wisdom. [Exodus 20:2-3: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.]

Williamson on the salvation of the world: ACIM [A Course in Miracles] says no one has any more potential than anyone else for saving the world. [Hebrews 7:23-25: The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but He holds His priesthood permanently, because He continues for ever. Consequently He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.]

Williamson on Who God is: We sign up for duty, for participation in this revolution, through a sincere desire to be used by something larger than ourselves, for the purpose of healing the world. It doesn’t even matter if we don’t call that “something larger”by the name of God. For some people conspire with God who do not yet believe in Him.* It is ultimately not our belief but our experience that matters.* God has no ego by which to be insulted if we do not get His name right. [Amos 8:8: He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name...]

Williamson on God's plan for the salvation of the world: God has a plan for the salvation of the world, called “the plan for the teachers of God.” His teachers come from all religions and no religion. There is nothing to sign up for, no worldly organization or institution to belong to. It simply refers to a stirring in the heart, which then activates an internal guidance system already present within us. If we ask how to help, He will show us how to help. [1 John 4:1: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.]

Williamson on suffering: And we're in pain because the world is out of sync with God, with love, with natural and righteous living -- whatever you want to call it. Most people know that. And we make a shift by correcting the thoughts and attitudes that create the pain. But the shift is a gradual process that never stops; there are no silver bullets in the spiritual realm. We have to be continually devoted -through religion, spirituality, whatever practice or healing modality works for us. We're seeking to penetrate veils of illusion that have literally taken ages to accumulate. But we can do it. And the bottom line is always forgiveness and love. Until there's that insight, the pain continues. [1 Peter 4:13: 13: But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.]

Williamson, neo-pagan: The re-emergence of the goddess means, among other things, an appreciation of feminine imagery as it relates to our experience of life. And nothing is more feminine than that we conceive life, it gestates within us and then we give it birth into the world. That is exactly what is happening today, with our consciousness the womb from which will emerge a new humanity....We are giving birth to a higher evolution of ourselves, and the dreams we will be dreaming next are the dreams our new self will be dreaming. [No comment necessary on account of stupidity.]

Just in case there are any remaining doubts Williamson's belief system, here are a couple of nuggets from other New Agers that she has personally endorsed on her website:

Jean Shinoda Bolen: Mother is Mother Earth, mother archetype, mother instinct, mother goddess, the sacred feminine and expresses the need for women as a gender to bring balance into the world (not all women will get this message, those in whom the mother archetype and sister archetype are strong elements in the psyche will). Men can also get and support this message. I am advocating a third wave of the women's movement as a grassroots one centered in circles of women.

Chrissie Blaze: I have studied astrology for many years. One thing about the Age of Aquarius that we are in now is that it is the time for us "ordinary" people to become extraordinary. It is not the time for us to wait for others to lead the way. No longer can we stand on the sidelines. It is time for each of us to realize, deep within, that we are the harbingers of change....Each and everyone of us has great power at our disposal, but first we must go within and find that power Some call it God, some Brahma, some Allah, some the Divine Spark - it doesn't matter what we call it, it is the great Creative Force behind and within all life - the main thing is that we draw on this deeper, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving part of us and then and then express it in loving service to humanity.

Folks, if you don't see a problem with any of the above...that is a problem.

Finally, to dispel all remaining vestiges of doubt about Williamson's neo-paganism, there are references throughout these quotes to something called A Course in Miracles, Williamson's personal bible. This is a "scripture" allegedly dictated by Jesus in the late 1960s to a professor at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. This datum alone should give pause. It consists in 365 "lessons," one for each day of the year, and is absolutely satanic. Lesson No. 103 says:

God, being Love, is also happiness. To fear Him is to be afraid of joy.

Against which we may rightly set Proverbs 9:10:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

In short, Marianne Williamson is a New-Age neo-pagan, firmly at odds with the One True Church, desperately in need, not of a deferential audience, but prayer for her conversion, and the conversion of all those whom she is leading down the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire. For preaching, we have Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the saints to draw from; the absolute last forum in which Marianne Williamson's muddled and deluded notions should be aired is the inside of a Catholic church. DON'T LISTEN TO HER.