The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love

Works of Love
A Newsletter of  The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love

June 13, 2019

God and Love on Route 80

Dear Friends,

Book: God and Love on Route 80

Most people know the author as a contributor to the study of medical humanities, positive psychology, research on altruism and love, clinical bioethics, and the care of deeply forgetful people. But there is a spiritual side to him that has been animating from the start, and that he finally decided to express in the form of a journey. God and Love on Route 80 is an astonishing true story of faith, love, and destiny for everyone who suspects that our universe and encounters are more enchanting and meaning-filled than dry old materialism allows, or than our narrow goals embrace. Spirituality often begins with the sense of the hidden mystery of human connectedness. Most of us, even if we don't like to admit it, have had powerful moments when we encountered the perfect person in the perfect place at the perfect time as if in answer to a prayer, especially in our more desperate moments. We pause because it felt so uncanny, as though perfectly set up by a cherishing and unifying higher presence in this universe in which we somehow participate.

God and Love on Route 80 is a different kind of road trip. Follow the often mirthful but always deepening Route 80 episodes that reveal how cherished and connected each of us is. It is a mix of uplifting encounters and reflection on infinite Mind, resonating with the newfound respectability of these ideas as recently captured in the writings of such distinguished thinkers as Larry Dossey MD with his book One Mind, philosopher Owen J. Flanagan with his The Oneness Hypothesis, and even to some degree Thomas Nagel with his Mind & Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False. In the beginning Mind. Mind before Matter. Many scriptures state that "in the beginning" was the divine Mind, from which comes the universe of time and space in a Big Bang, and it is always there underlying all that is, including our own consciousness, but we have to mindfully notice its whispers and winks as we move through our lives.

Endorsements

"Sometimes things happen that reveal an apparent pattern, plan, and meaning to the workings of the world. When this revelation occurs, it's as if the Universe winks at us as if to say, 'Now you're in on the secret!' The 'secret' is the realization that an infinite, unitary intelligence pervades everything-- what author Stephen G. Post calls IM for Infinite Mind. And that's why God and Love on Route 80 is a poke in the eye of materialism, the numbing ideology that all happenings conform to the so-called blind, meaningless laws of nature. Post's "journey west" is a coming-of-age metaphor for the discovery of ancient truths: that Consciousness is primary, that Mind was "here first," and that love is a kind of metaphysical glue that holds things together and provides a delightful fizz to the whole show. God and Love on Rt. 80 is more than an enchanting, beautiful book; it indicates the kind of awareness that is required if we are to survive the challenges we face as a species-- the awareness of our connectivity and unity with all else, the knowledge that our world is sacred, holy, and worth saving. Thank you, Stephen, for reminding us of this essential truth."

-- Larry Dossey, M.D., author of One Mind: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters

"Stephen G. Post in this highly readable and deeply profound book shares his journey to that which is whole, holy, and healed in all of us. Beyond the secret passages, the dark alleys and ghost filled attics of our individual conditioned and separate minds there is a single infinite boundless awareness that differentiates into all observers, all modes of observation and all objects observed. We can call it Ein Sof, Brahman, Nonlocal mind, God, Allah or the Self. Transcendence to this domain is the experience of absolute love and spontaneous creativity, intuition, insight, and higher vision."

-- Deepak Chopra, M.D., author of You Are the Universe: Discovering Your Cosmic Self and Why It Matters and Synchrodestiny: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence to Create Miracles

"You must be ready when you open this book. It's a microburst of searching faith in a God of Love (be alert for the "blue angel") and a spiritual and intellectual stance that everything in the universe-- you, me, crickets, galaxies, microbes, stars, life, death-- is connected. For the author who shares his awakening with us, the "blue angel" offers him not only comfort but the bracing challenge to love others with a generous heart way beyond self-aggrandizement. Or, simply put, as God loves. It takes a large and open heart to take in the invitation to faith of this vocation story. I'm more alive and alert now for having read it."

-- Sister Helen Prejean, Author of Dead Man Walking and a soon-to-be-published memoir, River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey (Random House August 13, 2019)

Stephen G. Post, PhD, is the bestselling lead author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Happier, Healthier Life by the Simple Act of Giving (Random House). In 2001 he founded the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love (unlimitedloveinstitute.org), which researches and distributes knowledge on kindness, giving, and spirituality. He was invited to become one of the Founding Fellows of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), the preeminent scholarly organization in this field based at Cambridge University. He received the Kama Book Award in Medical Humanities from World Literacy Canada (2008), and the "Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Health Care" from the Trustees of the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network. He is an elected member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Royal Society of Medicine, London.

The Science of Good & Evil

Some of you may have seen this special edition of TIME on The Science of Good & Evil. I noticed that the middle and central article, "Good Deeds, Good Health," features my work and that of several others for about six pages, and refers to me as “a bit of an evangelist for the field of research,” which has completely taken off although back in 2000. That was when we began unlimitedloveinstitute.org and started funding so many studies with Templeton Foundation support and Fetzer. Now helping others, kindness, and volunteering are all taught in public health programs around the world, and I count about 4000 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

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Stephen G. Post, PhD
 

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