"Law of Attraction" magazine at Wally World?

Hello, my name is Todd and I'm an addict. My drug of choice is magazines.

OK, there, I said it. I admit that I am hooked on magazines.I once added up eighteen different paid subscriptions plus a dozen or more freebie magazines coming to my door each month. Look inside my briefcase on a cross country flight and you will likely see a couple on home repair, another on diesel trucks, a Christian magazine or two and probably one on solar energy. Then in my suitcase you'll find the juicy ones on dirt bikes, airplanes, writing, municipal waste recycling, electroplating, safety and environmental stuff. Oh yeah... as my friends in Minnesota would say: them are good!

My attention span isn't usually long enough to read many books. Most of the time it seems like authors beat around the bush in order to crank out enough pages to separate their stuff as a book instead of a magazine article. That way they make more money and get to go on tour selling their books. Me? Give me a magazine any day. And, I'm proud to say I've written quite a few magazine articles through the years. It was neat to pull the latest issue of Dirt Rider off the shelf of a 7-11 and find my name printed in there. Of all the things I miss from living in Monroe, I think the mile long magazine rack at Books A Million tops the list.

So, cruising through Wal-Mart yesterday I ran past the magazine rack. Not the ones on the ends of the checkout lanes. I'm talking about the magazine and book section. They have the best magazine selection in El Dorado. The far end gets my attention: the automotive magazines. Sitting on the top shelf next to the latest issue of Diesel World, I spotted a cover I've never seen before. It was "Law of Attraction" magazine.

Huh?

Wasn't that the stuff Oprah was touting a few years ago? I picked up the magazine and read the cover articles. "Get Happy Now" was their main article. The cover had a circle, kind of like a button, with apparently the magazine's primary focus: "Happy, Wealthy, Healthy". Hey, who wouldn't want that? Being a magazine junkie, I picked up the magazine and looked for their website. This deserved more research back at the house.

"Law of Attraction" magazine has a really slick looking website. You can peruse all sorts of feature articles with titles such as:
     What is Your Body Telling You?
     Defeating the Odds
     Letting "Luck" In
     Ten Tips to Get What You Want... Fast
     Find Joy in Your Work

I also found other magazines and websites based on the whole "law of attraction" line of thought. This is right along the same lines as what Oprah spotlighted. She was talking about a book and movie titled “The Secret".

In a nutshell, this line of thought says that we create what we want to experience. Think it... and it appears. Want to get married? Think about the things that would make up your dream spouse. Want a better job? Visualize yourself being productive in the perfect working environment for you. Get the idea? Many would call this type stuff "metaphysical". That's a term I was raised with. Dad was always into stuff like that. It started with Edgar Cayce books. Then he found Silva Mind Control in the early '70s. When he ran away from home at the age of 42, he moved to Houston where he found Unity Church and eventually the "Course in Miracles". He gave away cases of that book set.

Dad was always going to what he called "Super Kook" meetings. "You know, in life you have kooks and then you have super kooks" he'd say. His metaphysical buddies were kooks in an entirely different category.

During the charismatic movement of the '70s through the '90s (and even now) I heard preachers shouting the same stuff Dad's friends were saying. There is a lot of cross-over. Jesus talked about sowing and reaping. I've heard preachers go on and on about how our faith heals us. What's the difference between that and what I read on the "Law of Attraction" website? Not much. Oh, the church folks will say theirs has Jesus' name attached to it. True. And for sure, there is power in His name.

Neither sits quite right with me.

What I find lacking in both is the Person of Jesus Christ. The metaphysical folks frequently consider themselves Christians and can quickly sprinkle a little Jesus on top of their core beliefs when asked to. The "faith movement" Christians are clearly more Christ-focused but even then, their messages seem more about "getting your miracle" and how God wants us to prosper.

Me? I consider myself "Cross-centric". It is all about what Jesus did on the Cross. I boil the Cross down to two things: eternal life and the offer of a relationship with God right now. Note that I said the offer. We come to Jesus and he offers to be our savior. That's eternal life. But is He our Lord? Are we in a personal relationship with Him? He not only offers it but longs for it!

Billy Graham's daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, wrote a book titled "Just Give Me Jesus". I think I bought it but never read it. To me, the title says it all.

One of my best friends is also a real prayer partner. We really enjoy getting together either in person or on the phone to pray. Within that context, we also share about what God seems to be teaching us along the way. A word that comes up in our conversations pretty frequently is "abide". We both seemed focused on "abiding in Him". And I think this is what I find lacking in the "Law of Attraction" stuff as well as some in the faith movement. They may have Jesus mentioned but is the focus on abiding in Him? Is the main thing about having a personal, one on one relationship with Jesus?

Well, it is for me.

What sounds better... nice ideas with a little Jesus sprinkled on top or an abiding relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords where everything else just pours out. I like the story in the fourth chapter of John where Jesus is talking with the woman at the well. She wants water. You know... H2O to quench her physical thirst. But Jesus offers her "living water". A few pages later, in chapter 7, Jesus says: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

His words paint a picture of living water flowing naturally out of our lives. It starts with an intimate, personal relationship with Him and the rest is just gravity.

Are there nuggets of truth in the "Law of Attraction" magazines? Sure! Did Dad's "super kook" friends hit on some real stuff from time to time? Quite frankly, probably more than I see in the typical mainline denomination church service on Sunday morning. And while that's all fine and good, I find it lacking. It seems far short of what has been offered to us in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Like Anne Graham Lotz writes... just give me Jesus.

Here's something to chew on. When I abide in Him, my focus is rarely on me. Instead, it's on serving others. It's on feeding the hungry. It's on listening to someone who is hurting and then praying together. Oh, there is also focus on work, buying stuff and the same topics as the others talk about. But the focus is much less on me and a whole lot more on helping others; on being His hands and His feet in the world today. Before that though, my focus is on Him. The Lord's Prayer starts out with "Our Father, hallowed be thy Name..." That's talking about how great God is.

When I sit and ponder how great He is, it puts my stuff into perspective. My needs? No problem. I serve a big and powerful God. And what's even better... He knows me by name. The rest is just gravity.