Oprah has canonized Irish American writer Marianne Williamson, and given away her book "A Course in Weight Loss,"as one of her favorite things of 2010.

It is a huge boost for Williamson who believes spirituality can help with weight loss.

Williamson is now bound to become a household name.

She has described in wonderful terms her own battle to solve her overeating problem.

With Oprah's help her message may well spread all across America.

She says the book reflects her "understanding of the intersection between spirituality and weight loss. This book is a retraining of your consciousness in the area of weight, turning your journey to weight loss into a spiritual quest. As you restore your spirit, your body itself is reminded of its natural intelligence. By getting back to the truth of who you are, you will get to a place where all your problems with weight have disappeared."If you or someone you love is dealing with compulsive or addictive behavior—whether towards food or any other issue or substance—then I hope it will be useful to you in your recovery.

The spiritual theme of my book is this: the realization that while an addictive impulse can trump your better knowing and conscious will, the power of God will trump your addiction. While we often intellectually understand this principle, it can be difficult to actually apply to our lives. And that is why I wrote this book. It provides simple lessons in restoring your mind to its highest, most loving functioning. And in the presence of that love, all dysfunction disappears.

While I was never a food addict, I was a compulsive overeater for almost a decade at an earlier point in my life. When I began studying A Course in Miracles, my compulsion healed and I felt I had escaped what I called "food hell." I have written A Course in Weight Loss to illustrate the processes that occurred within me as the miracle of my healing unfolded. I hope that what I learned, and what I myself experienced, will be of value to you as you go through your own healing.

This book was written with a deep compassion for a very serious form of suffering. It comes from my heart, and hopefully it will speak to yours.