"That which you gaze upon, you will become."

Glenn emphasized a point in his 12/12/14 program that I think is worth some discussion.  "That which you gaze upon, you will become" (12:40).  This has been a recurring theme that Glenn has discussed.  He included it in his show on 23 Oct 2014, and CNN has posted transcript of Glenn using this quote as early as 19 Dec 2006.

While Glenn remarks that he thinks the quote is "Eastern" at one time, or "Hindu" etc, the closest I can find is a similar quote by Nietzsche.

I'm not currently the biggest fan of Nietzsche.  He didn't have very nice things to say about Kant or Jon Stuart Mill, both of whom I respect, so I am going to ignore the possible original source as Nietzsche and look at the idea from Glenn's perspective, rather than whatever Nietzsche's perspective or intent was with his similar statement.

On the 23 October show Glenn held up his scriptures where evidently he had written the quote at the front  "because this is true".  This statement - that which you gaze upon, you will become - follows the line of thinking also in the Proverbs "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7); and from Jesus who taught "The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, they whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, they body also is full of darkness." (Luke 11:34).  

This principle is both sweet and scary.  Sweet in the sense, that with willful effort, we can actually influence our own soul into becoming who we want to become.  By exercising our abilities in shaping our environment, and being assertive in choosing and allowing only those things that will encourage and uplift us to live or think at a higher or more enlightened plane, we can "become" more enlightened and encouraging ourselves.  

I suppose that perhaps that is why putting the statement in front of a set of scriptures could be an especially poignant reminder.  As the reader opens and prepares to read from a source of God given truth, he is reminded that by daily 'gazing' upon these pages of truth, the reader might also be filled, even 'become' truth in way.  

The 'scary' side, is that the opposite influence also holds true.  As Jesus taught "when thy eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness".  

My thoughts turn to an image of children watching television, movies, commercials, video games, and YouTube videos of every sort and variety.  How many of these have elements of evil in them?  How many may even be predominantly evil? 

I also think of those individuals exposing themselves to pornography, pictorial or literary, handing over control of their emotions as surely as cocaine addicts hand over their happiness to cocaine.  What becomes of them?

I think what we view and the effect it has on us can be perfectly described by the "parable of the pickel". When a cucumber is put in vinegar, it does not turn into a pickle immediately, but over the course of time, by constant exposure to the vinegar, the cumber changes.  If we want to become better people, we must make an effort to surround ourselves with the influences and images that will uplift us to that higher plane and avoid those images that could 'dry out' the benefit of those good exposures.  

During the show Glenn said "Unfortunately there are not a lot of options left to gaze upon that will leave you better than you were yesterday"(12:45).  

The counter-point (and the good news): There is.  

The availability of good and uplifting books, movies, videos, not to mention music and every other form of media are unlike any period in the history of the world.  It is easier to fill our lives with light than ever before.  Not only has the printing press, electricity, and manufacturing etc made books and printing inexpensive, our digital media has made that availability exponential.  Ultimately, it is a choice that is ever within our grasp.  

Perhaps Glenn's point was that among the major T.V. and cable networks, there is not much choice.  If that is the case, which it is, then we have to look beyond T.V. and cable for where we 'gaze'.  Maybe that is why I have a subscription to the Blaze.  

And it begins....

After my trepidatious foray into the world of blogging, I feel like my sled has quickly taken speed and I'm making a lot of ground and quickly.  I am now through six episodes of the Glenn Beck Program.  My endeavor has expanded not to only catlogue books he has recommended, but also guests on the program, movies mentioned or recommended and sponsors.  Why?  Firstly because I used to take notes on these things anyway... yes, even the sponsor's websites.  But I think the crux of the matter is to make more available the opportunity to "do your own homework" as Glenn has often said.  Such an admonition seems to presuppose that effort would be made to go back and do research on the topics presented.  This is my way of actually being able to do that.  Now I have a list that I can go back to, in particular the list of books, to read and study.

This is an enjoyable process in an of itself, but what makes it 1,000 times more exciting is the hope that someone at sometime in the future with a similar interest of study or further review might be aided by this information.

I am pleased to announce that the lists are now easily reached by clicking the links to the side of the blog.  This has allowed me to continue making new posts to this page rather than just keeping the links at the top and most recent blog post.

As the oldest episode I can access on the Blaze TV right now is from 1 Oct 2014, I feel some urgency to make up ground quickly before more episodes are taken off-line before I can get to them.
I'm surprised how rewarding an experience this is.  Already the plans for other blogs I had once mused about now seem in reach and possible.  I can feel the anticipation growing to begin work on them too.

First post made to the list of Glenn Beck recommended books!

Well, I've finally done it, I took the critical first step to starting on the list of recommended books from Glenn Beck.  In physics the act of transitioning from complete rest to motion is enormously significant, no matter how fast or slow the ensuing motion.  I'm not sure the velocity I have started with is especially fast, but at least we are moving.  Also, I've already had over a hundred views since my last post. WOW!

Entries will be made and updated here:
http://inksplotgazette.blogspot.kr/p/books-recommended-by-glenn-beck.html

Concise Alphabetical Listing:
http://inksplotgazette.blogspot.kr/p/alphabetical-listing-of.html

Concise Listing by Author:
http://inksplotgazette.blogspot.kr/p/blog-page.html

Extra books in advertising spots:
http://inksplotgazette.blogspot.kr/p/extra-books.html

Sponsor Websites (not all inclusive):
http://inksplotgazette.blogspot.kr/p/sponsor-websites-not-all-inclusive.html

Guests:
http://inksplotgazette.blogspot.kr/p/guests-on-glenn-beck-program.html

Movies Recommended or Advertised on the Glenn Beck Program:
http://inksplotgazette.blogspot.kr/p/movies-of-glenn-beck-program.html

Purpose of this Blog

Well,
I haven't a clue how to do a blog, I imagine this particular post should be in the "about me" section, but since I haven't found how I am supposed to update the "about me" section I'll write this here.

I'm a big fan of Glenn Beck.  However, one of the problems I have had is finding the books he has recommended on his show.  A couple of months after watching an episode I'll see something on the news, or something will trigger a thought and I'll suddenly want very badly to read a book that Glenn was talking about on his show two or three months past.  So how does one try to find a book that Glenn has talked about?

The first step starts with looking on "The Blaze" website for the book.  This usually ends in frustration as their 'Book' section is poorly designed.  It is nearly impossible to actually find anything because their index is by article, or by the latest group of books that they are advertising.  If you want to actually find something besides the last five books they have decided to advertise on the site it is pretty much impossible.

The next step includes the laborious task of finding the episode where Glenn discussed the book, watching it again, and then using that information to find the book on Amazon.  The method has actually proven more fruitful then checking "The Blaze", but it still has only worked once or twice for me.  It relies heavily upon remembering with a high degree of accuracy the week or month that the book was discussed on his show.  If you are not lucky enough to remember the month, it takes hours and hours to find the right episode, frustration mounting with every click.

So, after multiple requests to Glenn Beck's worldwide apparatus to have a list of books I could refer to without getting the results I need, I've decided to fill the void myself.  Yup.  I am going to begin the gargantuan task of reviewing EVERY episode of the Glenn Beck program on "The Blaze TV". I'll record the title, author, brief synopsis, and method to purchase every book that has every been recommended on the the program.

If you would like to help with me this task, please send me an email with the title of a book, episode/air date Glenn recommended it, along with the author and brief synopsis as well.

Cheers!