THE CHIMES BEFORE MIDNIGHT

ABOUT THE BOOK

“Frankly, many of us are living like deer caught in the headlights --  we’re reacting with fear and trepidation, and passing this on to our children… our friends… our loved ones.”

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 commonplace 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 continues to be more complicated, and challenging by the day, this lack of understanding could be at the heart of many problems.

“Wisdom can be a roadmap to leading a happy and productive life.”

Finney was brought up in a mixed heritage family. His mother was Chinese – Hawaiian, her parenting skills very much along the lines of a “Tiger Mom.” The author’s father came from an Irish and Norwegian background. His approach to raising his 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 thinking regarding wisdom in contemporary culture. However, when he tried to convey some of the old fables that had become so important to his life, he discovered his daughter had difficulty relating to the stories. He also discovered she was not alone. Many people living in our challenging modern world have trouble connecting to fables written hundreds of years ago.

“The Chimes Before Midnight,” is author Richard Finney’s attempt to bring to the forefront 12 edicts of wisdom. He then expands on each of the basic precepts with chapters featuring a “modern story” plus an accessible treatment of the story that readers will be able to relate to. The goal is to illustrate the most fundamental steps one needs to discover the basic ‘truths’ about living a happy and rewarding life.

The target audience for these edicts is anyone who is making their way in this complicated modern world, but knows that there’s something missing when they are challenged with ethical and moral situations.

This book is not a lecture.

The author does not presume any moral high ground at all. 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.”

The edicts and the stories behind the “The Chimes Before Midnight” just might change your life…