No Less Than Greatness : The Seven Spiritual Principles That Make Real Love Possible

Rating:
Summary: This book is the gift of love.
Review: Mary Manin Morrissey is a mature and wise voice in the sea of spiritual writers and lecturers. Ms. Morrissey captures the essence of moving from a thought system based on self/ego to a thought system based on love. If you follow the work of Marianne Willamson or Carolynn Myss, you will recognize thoughts and principles. This book was an unexpected gift.

Rating:
Summary: No Less Than Greatness by Mary Manin Morrissey
Review: Since I am a former member and employee of Living Enrichment Center, I read all books by Mary Manin Morrissey from a different perspective than perhaps others would. The first thing that jumps out at me when I read Mary's books is that she talks about people that I knew and places I had been, particularly the grounds of Living Enrichment Center in Wilsonville, Oregon. For example, in NO LESS THAN GREATNESS Mary talks about her stepson Michael. During a period of my employment at LEC I actually worked with Michael. I remember his fondness for the South Park cartoon, as well as for the music of Sublime. He and I had a lot in common. I liked him.

Living Enrichment Center, which was a 10,000 square foot church, retreat center, bookstore, kitchen/dining hall, and pool, headquartered on 90 beautiful acres in Willsonville, Oregon, was Mary Manin Morrissey's spiritual "empire." LEC has now closed, and Mary Morrissey is embroiled in a financial scandal that is all over the local media. So, this adds a different dimension to my experience of reading NO LESS THAN GREATNESS. The message of the book is lost on me, and I just am reminded of the community that once existed and for which I am now nostalgic. I have started a Yahoo! group to keep up-to-date about the situation: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lecworldrefugees/

I hesitate to mention this in a review because I don't want it to sound spiteful, but then again what is a review but one person's opinion? My opinion is that Mary Manin Morrissey's books never really appealed to me much. Again, I appreciate the underlying message of tolerance for all paths, and I acknowledge that Morrissey is quite talented at what she does, but the main thrust of her works doesn't appeal to me. Her works, in my opinion, belong in the category that I outgrew about seven years ago: self-help.

So, again, I read NO LESS THAN GREATNESS for the sake of nostalgia. These books, Mary's career, and Living Enrichment Center, all comprised the backdrop for a very important and transcendental era of my life. Some of my experiences as a member of the LEC staff, as well as a member of various other LEC groups, and also as a volunteer, remain dear to me and I believe will remain dear to me for the rest of my life. Mary's books may not appeal to me, but as entities, as symbols of a time and place that is deeply important to me (the "LEC Era" of my life, 1997-1999), I retain an odd fondness for all of Mary's books.

Andrew Michael Parodi