Book Review: The Cosmic Lens
A New Perspective for Thriving in a Disrupted World by Michiel Doorn and Birgit Viertlböck
One of my favorite book genres is Personal Growth and Spirituality, and I get particularly interested when a book comes along that seeks to blend the two. So, when I came across The Cosmic Lens, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. But let me take a few steps back before I dig into the content of the book.
When I was in college, I went deep down the Reformed Christian rabbit hole. I spent numerous hours on message boards debating theology and becoming more and more entrenched in a subculture that believed that one had to think exactly the same as them or they were not actually a Christian. You could risk your eternal salvation to even consider the possibility that someone else might have it right.
One of the things they were most adamantly opposed to was the, at the time, best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life. They interpreted it and talked about it as being a false gospel. A gospel that led someone to rely more heavily on their own works than on the grace of God. They pulled quotes out to prove their points, and for a long time I was convinced that people even in my own church were leading themselves to hell by reading this book. I almost started looking for a new church when they offered an evening adult Bible study centered around that book. In the back of my mind, though, I was curious as to whether or not this book was as destructive as I was being led to believe. So I went to the local Christian bookstore and picked p a copy, with the intention of theologically destroying it.
I was pleasantly surprised, though, when, as I read it, I found it completely harmless. There was nothing about that book that contradicted anything that I believed at the time. There were occasional things that I disagreed with, but it was never anything someone could consider essential to the Christian faith.
Over time, I read more of these types of books and even got into reading non-religious self-help books. The genre was fascinating and I found a lot of good insight into the human condition and even my own limiting beliefs. When I left religion completely for a time, I even got a Life Coaching certificate because I wanted to go deeper into the self-help world. As I have drifted back toward a form of faith, I have stayed grounded in the industry.
Enter the first Trump presidency.
The world began to feel chaotic. People I once respected and looked up to began to follow him with a devotion bordering on worship. To sit by while friends and family abandoned the literal teachings of the Jesus they claimed to believe in was unconscionable to me. From then to now, with the beginning to the second Trump era, I have felt lost and angry and unable to make sense of it all and my place in it. The Cosmic Lens seemed to offer a way to work through it and function with a sort of normalcy that I have been lacking for a long time.
The book centered on an analogy of a microscope lens. One can zoom in and see the small world of the person as an individual and deal with their own life but then also zoom out and view the big picture and what their place is in it. It is a well-written book, and makes the case for the cosmic lens analogy strongly, but one thing that turned me off to it was their insistence that this was a brand new idea and the only way to make sense of our tumultuous times. It also felt, at times, like an advertisement for their one-day intensive program that, again, they talked about as though it is the only way to get your life together before embarking on using the cosmic lens.
The idea is a good idea. And I do not doubt their sincerity and that their programs work. There are plenty of testimonials in the book to make that case. But I had a hard time getting past their insistence that their way is the only way. It reminded me too much of my days in the online Reformed community, so, for me, the book just didn’t hit like it might for others.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.