Customer Reviews

We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting for: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I normally don't pay much attention to the Editorial Reviews, but the review from Publishers Weekly has to be the lamest review I have ever read. It seems as if this reviewer has broken down this book in order to fit into some sort of actuarial table or spreadsheet. I originally took this book out of the library because of the essay about her and address to Black Yoga Teachers in the current issue of "The Shambhala Sun." I was stunned by Ms Walker's grasp of the overwhelming interconnectedness of seemingly paradoxical forces of energy that we create and create the life around us. Issues such as knowledge, kindness, compassion, the persistence of evil, the necessity of nonviolence, the love of the utter importance of the Feminine element in the life of the world. Of contradictions like Castro who, despite the rigidness of his regime, articulates the true needs of the majority of people in the world. She is eloquent in her meditations on silence, on simplicity, on the values of personal "neighborliness", for lack of a better word, on the intrinsic sacredness of the earth and each other. I cannot praise this book enough. I got it from our library and am now buying my own personal copy to treasure and scribble in.

Ms. Walker is an awesome writer. I became addicted to her writing after reading this one. She has down to earth insight, a very thoughtful way of looking at things. This is a must-read for anyone concerned with world violence, oppression, human degradation, poverty, global warming, as well as other issues. It's full of hope.

I purchased this after hearing an on-air interview of Alice Walker by Amy Goodman on Pacifica Radio and enjoyed the journey through these essays. I encourage those intrigued by the title to take the plunge and buy it. We are the ones we have been waiting for, and it is helpful at times to have someone light the way in a time of darkness.

I bought this for my sister but read the first half of the book before giving it to her. Now I need my own copy! Alice Walker is always uplifting and full of wisdom.

A friend of mine gave me this book and I read it in 2 days. Loved it! I find that Alice Walker can share some of the most horrendous stories that have been done to her people, and yet, I as the reader, come away, feeling as though there is still hope for us as human beings, and most of all hope for myself in becoming the best
that I can be. So appreciate her gifted writing.
Sherri Rosen Publicity, NYC

Funny thing - "officialdom;" almost as funny as the artless science that apparently now best describes reviews.

For if I had not already been privileged - as a longtime reader of Alice Walker's works, to be fully convinced of her intrinsic Human Value and Literary Worth as a generously-gifted, and unconventionally-creative author, I certainly would not have been encouraged to purchase her latest works based solely upon the two "official" reviews logged on this site.

All I can say, therefore is Thank Goodness for the actual READER-REVIEWS! Thoughtful essays which - oddly enough, appear enthused and awed, where the "official" reviews come over as jaded and condescendingly critical.

Many of the essays in this book are even more relevant today. Unfortunately we haven't made much progress, except we did elect Barack Obama.

I loved the essay "All Praises to The Pause; The Universal Moment of Reflection". It speaks to honoring the effort spent on a difficult project or life event, stepping back and allowing your mind and body to re-group.
"What it (the I Ching) is referring to in this hexagram is something that I am going to call 'the pause'. The moment when something major is accomplished and we are so relieved to finally be done with it that we are already rushing, at least mentally, into The Future. Wisdom, however, requests a pause. If we cannot give ourselves such a pause, the Universe will likely give it to us. In the form of illness, .....in the form of our car breaking down, our roof starting to leak, our garden starting to dry up. Our government collapsing. And we find ourselves required to stop, to sit down, to reflect. This is the time or 'the pause', the universal place of stopping. The universal moment of reflection."

Maybe this is that Time of Pause. But soon we need to stand up and join our President's call to action.

Wow. Nobody else has reviewd this so far. Ok well first off I commend Ms. Walker for clearing up where the title came from. I didn't realize it was from June Jordan.
I definitely want to go back and read the poem. As for the time of darkness part. Its mid-December as I write this so I guess that pretty much qualifies. I found the essays and speeches in here to be very insightful. I wish Ms. Walker the best of luck with her farming as well as writing.

great