Recommended by one of my first friends that I made after moving to Portland, OR in 2008. We worked together at US Bank in Direct Lending, underwriting home equity loans, installment loans and lines of credit. We would often have lunch together and decompress from the stress of underwriting. Even better, we have stayed in touch even after we have both moved out of Oregon.
Recommendation #32 from Jan Rofsky
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
“A war hero and the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, Sergeant Raymond Shaw is keeping a deadly secret—even from himself. During his time as a prisoner of war in North Korea, he was brainwashed by his Communist captors and transformed into a deadly weapon—a sleeper assassin, programmed to kill without question or mercy at his captors’ signal. Now he’s been returned to the United States with a covert mission: to kill a candidate for US President . . .”
Written in 1959, it was also made into a movie in 1962 and 2004. I only took 2 notes on the entire book, so I can’t say too much of it made an long-lasting impact on me.
But, it was an entertaining read, and I did enjoy experiencing this quintessential 60’s political thriller. Here are the 2 notes that I took while reading it.
1 – “Conditioning is based upon associate reflexes that use words or symbols as triggers of installed automatic reactions. Conditioning, called brainwashing by the news agencies, is the production of reactions in the human organism through the use of associated reflexes.”
2 – “Marco was being rubbed into sand by the grinding stones of two fealties. He was being slowly rubbed away by two faiths he lived by, far beyond his control; the first was his degree of holy reverence for the Medal of Honor, one of the most positive prejudices of his life because his life, principally, was the Army; and the second was the abnormal degree of friendship for Raymond Shaw, which has been placed upon his mind, as coffee leaving a stain upon a fresh, snowy tablecloth, by the deepest psychological conditioning.”
My take-away
I can understand how you can lose yourself between two faiths. For me, that occurred when I felt I had to choose between my faith and my sexuality. At the time, I didn’t realize that these passions are as interconnected as everything else in my life. What I was missing was relationship, my third passion; specifically, relationship with my Creator, who understood that my faith and my sexuality were both gifts given to me. My God who made me homosexual, and said that I was made in His image.
One thing I love about the Holy Trinity is the THREE in ONE, WE in I concept. I’ve found a few songs in my playlists that talk about a WE loving you, or being there for you. It’s just another way that I am reminded that I am not alone. This song comes from this month’s Fellowship playlist song #20.
We Won’t Leave You by Steve Void & Syence