Faith and Will

April 13, 2009
Some Cameron fans will love this latest work from the writer and creativity guru who developed and wrote the multimillion-selling The Artist's Way
, receiving it as another installment of unfolding spiritual wisdom. Others may think they've read this book before, because Cameron's views on spirituality—and its essential relationship to creativity—are basically a single note that she plays extensively and well. The core of her message—that the spiritual life is a daily surrender to God's plans for one's life—comes straight from the 12-step recovery movement that saved the author from her own alcoholism. In this book, Cameron adds a lot from the Bible, quoting frequently from Psalms and the epistles of Paul, which may surprise those readers who expect less scriptural spirituality. The book reads like stream of consciousness, with no chapter breaks, so it feels repetitive and lacking structure and progression. On the whole, there isn't much new, but maybe there needn't be; like a muscle, faith is built through repetition of beneficial actions that may not provide immediate results.