Searching for God in one's inner being

In Spirit Driven Success, Dani Johnson presents a subject matter that is as old as time itself but in a sparklingly refreshing manner. Her overriding message throughout the book is that human life has a definite purpose which a person may not be aware of because oftentimes we tend to live or rather prefer to live in a status quo, but for the realization of which we must seek God, the Supreme, the Ultimate. From her deep conviction, the author avers that in spite of one's having ability, skill and other qualities, one shall not have wholeness of life until and unless one surrenders oneself to Him and puts in efforts to be the best according to His will. The advice 'submit oneself' to God recurs throughout the book and Johnson makes the meaning of the word 'submit' very explicit, that is, to respect and honour. She urges, 'accept instructions from His mouth and lay up His words in your heart.' Then again she adds, 'God doesn't make you submit. He gives you the choice'. And whenever a person chooses to submit to Him, miracles occur in life. She further says that one has to ask for His help and for miracles to happen in one's life, to one's people. The word 'life', according to the author, refers to all areas of life that are physical, mental, emotional, social, relational and, she adds emphatically, financial as well. Her resounding advice is to seek God whole-heartedly and totally unconditionally for all time so that the maxim, "Many are called but few are chosen" flashes incessantly in one's vision and one is ready to be chosen.
Dani Johnson is a successful speaker before large audiences, a trainer to show the ways and means to mitigate and overcome the ills and misfortunes of life. Throughout the book, one hears a very potent, loud and clear optimistic voice to lift people up from a life lived by a set formula, a mediocrity, a complacency, status quo, and in a rut. Johnson ennobles people by asserting that there is skill, talent and ability lying dormant in every life, buried in them that ought to be discovered and re-discovered because that is precisely what God has made us for. To her, anointing is not the monopoly of a priest, a pastor or an evangelist; rather every soul is capable of influencing others and bringing about changes that are for better for them. In this sense, everyone is a king. Her bold utterance that making money is spiritual warfare may be startling to many but her rationale behind this is substantiated by her quotations from the Bible. She goes further and asks, "Do you know there are even more scriptures supporting wealth and money than there are those talking against it?" Dani Johnson enunciates ten steps to God's formula for wealth and reminds readers that it is his blessing to us for a much bigger purpose than we might think.
In a booming voice and very tersely, she talks against hoarding, greed, jealousy and other vices in human character that makes one less than human. She repeatedly warns people about their intentional oblivion of not tithing at the rate of 10 percent of God's Kingdom for those who are deserving. As a teacher on the lessons of life, she draws the attention of the elders to the need to teach youngsters to tithe from their own earning, which is very relevant to our society as many in our young generation have been earning from their student days for quite sometime. This precept when put in a little different way equals with the teachings on charity in other religions. Her words are overwhelming and colossal when she pronounces that we ought not to rob God or else we shall not be trusted with what we have and eventually get robbed.
Johnson is in a trusted position to lead others to success not in the stereotyped sense of the term but in its true spirit because she herself has risen to this height from a very miserable, wretched life in her parents' home and also in her short-lived, turbulent first marriage. She claims to have heard an inner voice, a calling she awoke to and organized her life accordingly. Her merit as a writer lies in the fact that by not articulating anything new about constructing one's life in keeping with its purpose that is most magnificent and fulfilling, she makes what is already known to us most palpable. It ignites us and rocks us to a re-awakening. The messages in this book are coherent and graded in terms of arrangement of the lessons and corresponding edicts in the chapters primarily because they are meant for teaching and training. Added to the content and its presentation is a spirited voice that makes the words, phrases, dictums and quotations fully audible to us. Johnson has shown that presenting something in a laconic way is much more effective in driving a point home than when it is verbose. It is one of those 'how to' books that spells out every step in striving to attain a goal whatever realm that might fall within. In this regard there is a strange coincidence of her book with the Silva Mind Control Method propounded by Jose Silva as far back as the mid 1960s and, therefore, this reviewer feels that this point should have been recognized by Johnson. Both Dr Silva and Johnson's works are on discovering ultimately one's inner kingdom through some initial training on mastering some simpler objectives. Johnson is lucky in receiving a calling from the Creator before she asked for or prayed for it. Thus she was rescued by Him which to many unfortunate souls remains a distant cry. Also the writer does not accept the fact that circumstances may hold back a person from making steps forward and pronounces, ".... it is never the circumstances, but it is how you choose to deal with the circumstances that determine the outcomes in your life." It is a bit simplistic in the sense that although things may be different and perhaps surmountable in her surroundings, it is never the same for everyone elsewhere because of certain constraints that could be unimaginable by some like her in a progressive society. One may overcome one's distressful circumstances but at a very high cost, in the latter situation.
Considering the subject matter and its inherent essence that is spiritual, it does not look nice to see the cover page and also some inner pages being used for publicity to sell the book and CDs of it, however free initially they may be. It definitely mars the purpose of the book. This reviewer concludes that the foreword written by the author's husband is a boon to any wife in her endeavour.

Nazma Yeasmeen Haque studies history, loves music and is Principal, Radiant International School, Dhaka.