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Choosing Honor: An American Woman's Search for God, Family and Country in an Age of Corruption by Mary T. Ficalora Avail Press
book review by Priscilla Estes
"The only ones who are going to end the corruption, despair, apathy, isolation, and violence in our world today are you and me."
Wake up and pay attention, America! is the message of Mary Ficalora's Choosing Honor, a unique blend of common sense and spirituality delivered by a child of the 1960s and 70s who embraced the status quo before she learned to reject it.
Ficalora, an international corporate brat who was reared Roman Catholic, weaves the Ten Absolutes of Kabbalah with messages from rock 'n' rollers, humanists, statesmen, and economists to create an eclectic tapestry of what's wrong and right with America. What's wrong is that we have lost our honor, defined as "standing for the good of all in the face of forces we cannot control." What's right is the ability of her citizens to stand up and question authority. Ficalora, a mother and Emmy-nominated media professional, cautions that governmental control of the economy, media manipulation of our desires, and the climate of fear created by the so-called War on Terror is creating a nation that weakens the family, places profit above people, stifles innovation, and assumes that "might makes right." She builds a case that the "internalized oppression of We the People" blocks us from fully realizing our authority over government and runs counter to the principles of our founding fathers.
Choosing Honor focuses a fascinating ten-point spiritual lens on corruption—"a departure from what is pure and correct"—in the United States today and shouts: Pay attention! Get involved and take back our country and our honor. Readers may not always agree with Ficalora's application of Kabbalah's Ten Absolutes as a panacea for society's ills, but her message to strive for a higher consciousness and unconditional love, wonderfully underscored by classic rock 'n' roll lyrics, rings true globally.