A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles (1992) is the first book written by Marianne Williamson. It is about the 1976 book A Course in Miracles by Helen Schucman. A Return to Love was a New York Times best-selling book.

Contents

The book includes Williamson's thoughts about the book A Course in Miracles and her ideas about finding peace inside through love. Amazon.com says the main idea of the book is "how each person can become a miracle worker by accepting God and showing love in everyday life."

The book is organized into two main parts: Principles and Practice. The Principles section has chapters titled "Hell," "God," "You," "Surrender," and "Miracles." The Practice section includes chapters titled "Relationships," "Body," "Work," and "Heaven."

In each chapter, Williamson explains certain ideas. For example, she describes "darkness" as fear that lives inside a person. She also shares personal stories and examples to help explain these ideas. The book includes many references to Christianity.

The book assumes the reader already knows some religious ideas. Some of Williamson's explanations are not the same as common Christian beliefs. For instance, in chapter 3 ("You"), section 2 ("The divine mind"), when talking about Christ, she writes, "The word 'Christ' is a psychological term. No religion has a monopoly on the truth. Christ refers to the common thread of divine love that is the core and essence of every human mind."

Reception

The book received mostly positive reviews from readers and critics.

A Return to Love remained on The New York Times best-seller list for 39 weeks in 1992 and reached the top of Publishers Weekly’s nonfiction best-seller list for 11 weeks. It was written by one of two authors who helped introduce New Age ideas to the American public. The other author was Thomas Moore.

The author promoted the book, along with A Course in Miracles, during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. This episode received more positive viewer letters than any other show in 1992. She also discussed the book and A Course in Miracles during an interview with Barbara Walters on 20/20. In 2012, about 20 years after the book was published, the author was interviewed again by Oprah Winfrey on Super Soul Sunday (OWN TV) for an episode titled, “20 Years After 'A Return to Love'.”

Some critics have said the book includes ideas about health that are not based on science, such as beliefs about paranormal events. The author has denied these claims, stating, “This entire idea of me as antimedicine and antiscience could not be further from the truth.”

Chapter 8, titled “Body,” is the most criticized part of the book. In this chapter, the author wrote:

• “A friend of mine told me that we are not punished for our sins, but by our sins. Sickness is not a sign of God’s judgment on us, but of our judgment on ourselves. If we think God created our sickness, how could we turn to Him for healing? God is all that is good. He creates only love, so He did not create sickness. Sickness is an illusion and does not actually exist. It is part of our worldly dream, our self-created nightmare. Our prayer to God is that He awaken us from the dream.”
• “Healing results from changing how we see our relationships to illness, responding to problems with love instead of fear. When a child shows a cut finger to their mother, she does not say, 'Bad cut.' Instead, she kisses the finger, showing love and instinctively starting the healing process. Why should we think differently about serious illnesses? Cancer and AIDS are physical signs of a psychic scream, and their message is not 'hate me,' but 'Love me.'”
• “In traditional Western medicine, a healer’s job is to attack disease. But if the idea of attack is the problem, how can it be the solution? A miracle worker’s job is not to attack illness, but to encourage the body’s natural healing forces. We should look past sickness to the love that exists beyond it. No sickness can reduce our ability to love. Does that mean we should not take medicine? Absolutely not.”
• “When the cure for AIDS is finally found, we will give prizes to a few scientists, but many of us will know that millions of prayers helped make it happen.”

Bob Carroll, from The Skeptic's Dictionary, said, “Williamson might be called Oprah’s patron saint. She is all about love and healing, yin and yang, being wounded, and using love and prayer to heal all wounds.”

John Podhoretz, writing in Commentary, described A Return to Love as “almost unspeakably tasteless” for using ideas from major world religions in a way that was careless. He called it “a work of surpassing vulgarity in a surpassingly vulgar field,” but noted it also includes “sound and surprisingly moving advice.” The book encourages readers to find meaning in something larger than themselves, move past past problems, and follow advice that sounds like wisdom from a grandmother: “Always look on the bright side. If God gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

Quotations

Important quotes from the book include:

• "…a miracle is a reasonable thing to ask for."
• "A person acting from a motivation of contribution and service rises to such a level of moral authority that worldly success is a natural result."

One specific passage from the book has become widely used as an inspirational quote. This passage was reworded in the 2005 movie Coach Carter and the 2006 movie Akeelah and the Bee. It has also been incorrectly credited to Nelson Mandela since 1996.

The author, Williamson, stated, "As honored as I would be had President Mandela quoted my words, indeed he did not. I have no idea where that story came from, but I am gratified that the paragraph has come to mean so much to so many people."

This passage has been compared to a statement from Jesus of Nazareth found in Matthew 5:16: "Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."