Duke Robinson

لا تكن لطيفاً أكثر من اللازم

When the author was in the fourth grade, a Philadelphia Inquirer photographer caught his grammar school tumbling team's premier performance at a PTA meeting. As a result, Duke Robinson claims to be the only Presbyterian minister in the history of Western civilization to have had his picture in a major metropolitan newspaper standing on his head with his fly open. The fact his fly was open, he says, reflects the innocence typical of an eight-year old boy reared in a very religious family in the first half of the Twentieth Century. That's who he says he was. That's what he did. And he says, "I wanted never to do it again." Robinson's intimate memoir takes you through a life marked by weird coincidences, surprise twists and turns, and life-or-death close calls that impacted him dramatically. His curious mind kept him asking and trying to answer, with some measure of intellectual integrity, why life works the way it does. How come the smallest incident or choice, either by yourself or someone else, can turn your life in a direction you never dreamed of? The mythology on which Robinson was reared gave him an answer to this question. It emerged, however, from an ancient people who thought the world had recently been created for them, didn't know where the sun went at night and believed demons caused illness. He says that he came to see that he could not be whole living in both that world and the scientific cause-and-effect world we all know today. The author's story of his own personal change has to do with discarding a lot of superstition, sentimentality and wishful thinking in religion, in order to be grounded in, integrated with, and liberated by relating honestly to the real world. Looking back, he says, "I never wanted to be caught standing on my theological head with my fly open." This book gets you inside the head of a Presbyterian minister who early on found that he also could not go through the motions or play so many of the games that the Church generally asks of its clergy. He has wrestled with traditional religion for well over a half-century. Of the last congregation he served for twenty-eight years, he began by asking its membership to lighten up and to get real. And they did. And he tells some remarkable stories about them. Robinson's four other books bear witness to his changed and changing worldview. Here, in more personal terms he weaves together stories about his Christian fundamentalist upbringing, the wonderful loves of his life, hilarious adventures on stage, his reputation for humor, reflections on sexual repression, parenting four strong children, and some hilarious, embarrassing professional mistakes, and fascinating projects in retirement. He also talks about being a fervent fan of the Philadelphia, Kansas City and now Oakland A's baseball teams for almost eighty years. He asks, "How much more theological can you get than that?"

Standing on My Head ... with My Fly Open

The author of this book assumes you love life and don't like the idea of dying. He suspects, too, that were you to die today, you are not sure you could do so at peace and be able to say, "I have lived my best possible life." He also takes for granted you have retained fanciful notions you were taught as a child about living, dying, and death, including nonsense about the grim reaper. This book relentlessly pursues truth and life. In the Introduction, Robinson calls you to update your worldview so it's coherent and to be true to your self in behalf of being your best self and living your best life. In Part One, he introduces ten steps that will help you let go of childhood thinking and connect you with realistic understandings of life. He explains how to integrate three basic models of life, adopt a positive view of life that's also realistic, affirm your personal freedom, identify and choose worthy life purposes, engage life with both passion and good sense, be an authentic world citizen, defeat toxic powers and let positive ones nourish you, live creatively in the present, and open yourself to joy as well as happiness. He caps this section helping you understand what it means to trust and practice perfect love. Part Two is also about living robustly. The author distinguishes between the ongoing process of dying and death as a state of being (or non-being), and quickly rejects denial, morbidity and escapist fantasies as adequate ways to deal with them. He then elaborates on 6 creative approaches to dying and death that are honest, liberating and edifying. Along the way, he explains what to kill the grim reaper means, and how to do it. His penetrating point is that until you get real about living, dying and death, you cannot be your best self or live your best possible life. In the first of the book's two postscripts, the author tells the poignant story of his wife's suddenly discovered illness in July of 2008, and of her dying in October. In the second, he tells what was going on in him the next summer, when a life-threatening illness forces him to face his own possible dying. PRAISE forCREATE YOUR BEST LIFE, KILL THE GRIM REAPER "This book should be read by anyone expecting to die some day. Young people live as if it can't happen to them, and a lot of us older folks try not to think about our imminent departure, but the author thinks we should and makes a strong case for doing so. It 's an easy and fun read, and makes more sense than anything I've seen on death and dying. I'm buying copies for all of my children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. It's a good road map for their remaining years as it is for mine." Robert F. Hanson, Professor-Emeritus, San Diego State University "Here is a very frank, practical and personal book about living and dying well that will greatly benefit not only professionals but also the general reader." Sherellen Gerhart, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Hospice of the East Bay, Pleasant Hill, CA "Robinson's book is magic. It teaches us step by step to transform the fear of dying into a design for creative living." Milton Matz Playwright, Psychologist, Rabbi. Author: Plays in Search of an Ending "Duke Robinson, a very wise pastor, has poured himself into an insightful discussion of living a good life and dying a good death. A thoughtful reading of this book will benefit one greatly." Clifford J. Straehley, M.D. Retired Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, Stanford Medical School; retired Chief of Surgery, Hawaii Foundation Hospital, Honolulu "Living in a large, active retirement community, Duke Robinson knows how seniors as well as the young fail to prepare for their dying; this book addresses that problem directly...and helpfully." Dr. John Hadsell, Professor-Emeritus, San Francisco Theological Seminary, author.

How to Live Fully Knowing One Day You Will Die

Create Your Best Life--Kill the Grim Reaper

Are you, like many of us, too nice for your own good? This remarkable book will empower you to get what you need and deserve,out of life...and still be a nice person! If you're like most folks, you were raised to be "nice". Yet now you find yourself asking: "If I'm so nice, why isn't my life better?" Renowned minister and lecturer Duke Robinson has the answer. Robinson says that well-intended behavior is essential to a humane society, but carries a down side. Being nice often means we take on too much, tell little lies, strive endlessly for perfection, and fall prey to other self-defeating behaviors. Now Robinson outlines the nine unconscious mistakes nice people make daily, and he shows how to correct them and avoid unnecessary stress with life-affirming actions. Learn how to: Say "no" and save yourself from burnout Tell others what you want, and actually receive it Express anger in healing ways that maintain valued relationships Respond effectively when irrationally criticized or attacked Liberate your true self.

Duke Robinson

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