Norman Vincent Peale, and latterly Robert Schuller, are the purveyors
of Positive Thinking. If positive thinking is the sure way to get what you
want, then Schuller practiced the art well. His Crystal Palace is bankrupt, but
its programs provided him a financial legacy that ensured his limos still have
drivers.
This
is just as well, as he needs his limos to ferry charity to his wife Arvella, who is sick with pneumonia. He has
requested his parishioners to provide dinners “low in sodium and [to] include
items such as fruit, meat, soup and eggs,” over the next three to four weeks. The
limos will collect the donations and deliver them to his home.
Unfortunately, Jesus and Paul did not have enough positive
faith to ensure their well-being to the same level as Schuller. Alternatively, perhaps
their positive thinking was for something else, certainly for something less!
If so, how does Schuller’s positive thinking vary from theirs?
John Stott lived simply. His cottage, where he wrote most of
his 90 books, did not have electricity until about 2005. He wrote by oil lamp.
He said, while he found Paul appealing, he found Peale appalling. Do you find
Schuller shrewd or shifty?
Read the story and judge for yourself!
