Oprah, Albino Assassins, and "The Secret"

Emily Stimpson of St. Blogs wrote this very funny piece on the latest Oprah "book of the moment" for Our Sunday Visitor.

"What she (the author) discovered (after a mere year of research) was "The Law of Attraction.”

"According to her book, this “law” was practiced by historical greats such as Plato, Galileo and Einstein, and has been “discovered, coveted, hidden, lost and recovered” repeatedly for the past 4,000 years. The book also claims the Catholic Church worked assiduously through the centuries to keep “The Secret” a secret."

The secret that may not tell its name?

Think positive thoughts and positive things will happen to you.

My favorite Emily line?

" So, what is this “Law of Attraction” that even armies of albino monks could not keep off Oprah?"

But the most gripping theological question comes from Michael McCallion, professor of theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit:

“What happens if a teenager channels all his energy into visualizing a bright red bike into existence, while his parents channel all their energy into visualizing that he doesn’t get that bike?”

I feel an existential crisis coming on. Guess I'll have to take the rest of the week off to deal with it - and St. Paddy's Day, of course.