Marianne Williamson was Googled more than any other candidate after last week's Democratic debate. Voters liked her call for "some deep truth-telling" and a "politics that speaks to the heart." But to understand Williamson's words, we need to first understand A Course in Miracles, the almost 1,300 page spiritual text she has built a career on interpreting. 

Williamson has become a self-appointed guru of a text that claims no hierarchy, organizational structure, or leader. Its authority comes directly from Jesus, channeled through a clinical psychologist who heard the words in her dreams. Course hit a cultural nerve in the counterculture of the 1960's, especially among intellectuals and celebrities looking to find more love and empathy in their lives.

Williamson promotes love and kindness in a world that feels increasingly hostile. Can she ride it to the presidency?