Summary of Patrick Morley's The Man in the Mirror

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The author’s wife, Carol, was a sales representative who had been thinking about going back to work. She had earned extra money working in a bank at the beginning of their marriage, and the money helped furnish their honeymoon apartment. By mutual agreement, she stopped working when Julie was born.

#2 The couple was able to save up enough money to buy a boat and a car, and they were able to lease a two-bedroom house. But they were still struggling to make ends meet. The strain of keeping their household afloat began to take a toll on them.

#3 The world in which we live has its own ideas about how to achieve the good life, ideas that are far different from God’s order. We strain to keep it all together, but the pressure is often like a tight band around our chest.

#4 The American standard of living has improved greatly over the last century. However, our moral/spiritual/relational standard of living has plummeted. We are better-off than we were even just twenty-five years ago, but our desires for instant gratification have taken the place of deferring to a time when we can pay cash for our wants.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822520943

IRB Media

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Insights on Patrick Morley's The Man in the Mirror

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The author’s wife, Carol, was a sales representative who had been thinking about going back to work. She had earned extra money working in a bank at the beginning of their marriage, and the money helped furnish their honeymoon apartment. By mutual agreement, she stopped working when Julie was born.

#2

The couple was able to save up enough money to buy a boat and a car, and they were able to lease a two-bedroom house. But they were still struggling to make ends meet. The strain of keeping their household afloat began to take a toll on them.

#3

The world in which we live has its own ideas about how to achieve the good life, ideas that are far different from God’s order. We strain to keep it all together, but the pressure is often like a tight band around our chest.

#4

The American standard of living has improved greatly over the last century. However, our moral/spiritual/relational standard of living has plummeted. We are better-off than we were even just twenty-five years ago, but our desires for instant gratification have taken the place of deferring to a time when we can pay cash for our wants.

#5

The most lasting satisfaction of life is in our relationships, so why are we trading them in for careers with companies that will drop us like hot potatoes if we miss our quota. Our standard of living must be measured in more than one dimension.

#6

The dominant economic theory in America is consumerism. It states that a progressively greater consumption of goods is beneficial. However, we know from glancing at ads and TV commercials that American industry applies this theory diligently in its business plans.

#7

The media in America is controlled by secularists, and thus portrays a secular worldview. This worldview has no absolutes, and everything is relative. We must guard our minds more carefully because so many kooky ideas are floating around.

#8

The life portrayed on television commercials loves pleasure and sensuality, and it has a right to whatever it wants. I believe you will come to the same conclusion.

#9

The American Freshman Survey has tracked the life goals of first-year college students since 1966. The number of students who want to be very well-off financially has increased from 45 percent of Boomers to 71 percent of Gen Xers to 74 percent of Millennials.

#10

The second is debt pressure. To the extent that our spending exceeds our income, we must accumulate debt. We can provide for ourselves two ways: income and debt.

#11

The rat race is the pursuit of this beautiful, wrinkle-free life. However, the aftermath of running the race and losing takes a heavy toll on us. The double whammy of media-generated standard of living anxiety and debt pressure is extremely depressing.

#12

The number one reason men fail when they are promoted is that they keep doing the old job. They may clean up their language a little, but essentially there’s no change. It’s time for men to check out of the rat race and start doing the new job.

#13

The rat race is an unwinnable race. Many men have been lulled into mental and spiritual complacency. What impact has consumerism and the media had on your own values and the way you spend your time and money.

#14

We all want the answers to Dempsey and Makepeace’s questions: Why is life so hard. and What happens when I die.