The Chimes Before Midnight - Wisdom for a Challenging World by Richard Finney (and me as editor) is now available on Amazon.
The Synopsis:
“Wisdom can be a roadmap to leading a happy and productive life.”
While speaking with one of his daughters about an ethical dilemma, writer Richard Finney was struck by how his daughter did not have even a basic awareness of common wisdom from such sources as “Aesop’s Fables.”
When he reached out to other parents with his discovery, Finney realized it wasn’t just the children who were struggling with the basic foundations of wisdom; it was adults as well.
Many people in our world lack familiarity and the most fundamental understanding of the basic precepts of wisdom. In a society that has become complicated and challenging this lack of understanding could be at the heart of many problems.
About the Author: Finney was brought up in a mixed heritage family. His mother was Chinese – Hawaiian and her parenting skills were very much along the lines of a “Tiger Mom.” The author’s father came from an Irish and Norwegian background, and his approach to raising children was to be affectionate and loving, but also demanding about how each of his children lived up to what they were capable of contributing to the world.
Both parents raised the author with stories, tales, fables where the “wisdom” behind each experience in life had the potential to inform future encounters with the real world. And that wisdom was as important in living a prosperous life as any kind of “practical” advice.
This was the upbringing which informed Finney’s lifelong pursuit into areas of deeper ethical and moral questions in contemporary culture. The target audience for these edicts is anyone who is making their way in the modern world, but knows there’s something missing when they are challenged with ethical and moral situations.
More Details about the Book: This book is not a lecture. The author does not presume any moral high ground at all.
Indeed, one chapter illustrates that point in the starkest way when Finney reveals a tragic time in his life, where all thoughts of wisdom abandoned him… and continue to fail him even to this day. The author included the chapter because it was the best way to convey to any reader that the words of wisdom he imparts in this book do not come from an elevation anywhere near “the mountain top.”
“We’re all a work-in-progress. The choice becomes, do you just allow yourself to be the car on cinder blocks in the front lawn of the house, in plain sight for everyone to see, never being worked on for years… or someone who is making every effort to become the best person they can be.”
It’s possible that the edicts and the information behind the “The Chimes Before Midnight” might change your life.
