Book Review: The Source of Miracles: 7 Steps to Transforming Your Life Through The Lord's Prayer by Kathleen McGowan

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FSB seems to want to feed my educational interests lately! After years and years of Catholic school (including college!) I find it sorta funny that as I have gotten older I have delved more into historical research and history involving the Christian faith. I guess it’s partly maturity and partly intellectual curiosity.

So when FSB sent me an interesting book based on the Lord’s Prayer to review this month, I jumped at the chance! Author McGowan has written many popular fiction novels, based on her religious journey and historical research.

The author began her journey through the Source of Miracles when she went to Europe and visited the Chartres Cathedral in France. She was fascinated by the labyrinth on the floor, and when she walked part of it and walked to the rose in the center, she felt an unknown energy consume her and bring her peace. She did not have time to return, but the trip stayed with her and she started researching the labyrinth and the 6 petaled rose in the middle.6 years later while pregnant, she walked the replica at grace Cathedral in San Francisco, CA. She had a vision of May Magdalena and what she was told by her would come back to her/come true only months later when her son was born and nearly dies. His survival is a miracle and one she believes was given to help her on her path. Her goal since then has been to help others understand the meaning of the Lords Prayer and the rose as a prayer tool.

The 6 petals of the rose correspond to the different lines of the Lord’s Prayer. Did you know that the Lord’s Prayer is the ONLY prayer that comes to us directly from Jesus’ teachings to his disciples? It is in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6, versus 9-13, as part of the Sermon at the Mount, and then again in Luke, Chapter 11, verse 1-4, as instruction from Jesus himself to his apostles.

The author breaks the Lord’s Prayer into 6 teachings that correspond with the rose’s petals and a 7th, the center of the rose, that corresponds and flows through all the teachings. basically you either physically or mentally, stand in each petal, saying the part of the Lord’s Prayer that corresponds to that petal, and then praying separately for that in your life that corresponds, before moving on through the prayer.

The book is broken up into that chapters that correspond to the petals as well. Each chapter starts with the corresponding line of prayer. The author gives examples of what could fall under it, and ideas to do better in your life. She also includes exercises to direct your thinking to the section at hand. Also included are affirmations that you can use as extra prayers for each step of the petal/prayer, that rephrase and make the prayer more directed to your life.
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1. HAVE FAITH- “Our father in heaven, may your name be hallowed”- find your destiny
2. SURRENDER- “May your kingdom come, may your will be done”- give up self- doubt and claim your worthiness
3. BE OF SERVICE- “As in Heaven , so upon Earth”- created heaven here on Earth
4. PREPARE FOR ABUNDANCE- “Give us our today our sufficient bread” – ask and receive
5. FORGIVE: “And forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors”- begin with YOURSELF
6. CONQUER OBSTACLES- “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from evil”-understand the seven deadly sins
7. LOVE- obey the highest commandments

There are different versions of the Lord’s Prayer, but all correspond to the petals just the same, and have the same meaning. Look at the version you use and you can see how it will work for you. It is interesting to note how “debt’ is “trespass” or “sins” in different versions.In ancient Aramaic sin and debt are inter-changeable. Trespass seems to have been introduced to notate it wasn’t just material things that were being referenced to but, spiritual ones.

The additional doxology added by some faiths to the Lord’s Prayer is not part of the rose or the author’s teaching. “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever” comes from the Teachings of the Apostles and was added in the 1st century. It literally is words of glory or praise added to the prayer. From the 5th century on it was added to different versions of the prayer in the Gospel of Matthew as well.
I have said the Lord’s Prayer in various churches/faiths as an adult while attending friends’ churches, and as a child (saying it in Lutheran and Catholic churches). I can ascertain that all Christian faiths treat the prayer the same and take from it the same substance and spiritual fulfillment.

The book is interesting and if you are looking at a way to direct your prayers and to delve more into the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer, this book be interesting to you.

For more information on the 7 Steps and the author, you can checkout her website at www.KathleenmcGowan.com  and you can read an excerpt here. In her bestselling fiction, (like The Secret and The Prayer of Jabez), Kathleen McGowan has popularized the world of Christian esoterica, a unique place where New Age and Christianity meet, making ancient teachings new and powerful.


Disclosure: FSB sent me this book, at no cost to me, for review purposes. I was not told how to review the book, or what to put in the book, nor was I compensated in any other way for the review.




pix courtesy of http://www.crystalinks.com/labyrinths.html