New York: Doubleday, 1996) explores the story-shaped nature of our lives. We are born, live, and die within stories. These stories shape how we see ourselves, the world, and our place in it. The first great storytellers in our lives are home, church, school, and popular culture. Knowing and embracing healthy stories are crucial to living rightly and well. This book investigates the relationship between stories and meaning in life, the difference between character and personality, the ability of story to make connections between things, the power of story to bring about a desired future, how stories create community and a sense of belonging, and how broken stories can be healed.Drawing on a wide range of stories-literary, popular, and personal, Tell Me a Story offers profound insight, encouragement, and inspiration. It includes a series of questions designed to help readers identify the important stories in their own lives.

    Over the course of ten years training teachers to write their own poems in order to pass the craft along to students, McEwen realized that nothing comes easily when life is conducted at a high rate of speed. She draws not only on personal experience, but on readings ranging from literary anecdote and poetry to Buddhism, anthropology, current news, and social history, all supplemented by interviews with contemporary writers and artists. This is a real reader’s book, one that stands up as both sustained narrative and occasional inspiration.McEwen espouses the pleasure to be found in slowing down, both for the ease and comfort of the thing itself (taking time to go for a walk, to write down one’s dreams, to read, to talk, to pray), and for its impact on creativity. There are chapters on walking, talking, drawing, dreaming, on “making space,” on pausing/praying, on telling stories. World Enough & Time is aimed at the educated general reader, could be used as a creative primer, and will be of interest to creative writing students and artists in every genre.

    A populist rebellion against the established churches, it became the dominant religious force in the country.During the nineteenth century white evangelicals split apart dramatically, first North versus South, and then at the end of the century, modernist versus fundamentalist. After World War II, Billy Graham, the revivalist preacher, attracted enormous crowds and tried to gather all Protestants under his big tent, but the civil rights movement and the social revolution of the sixties drove them apart again. By the 1980s Jerry Falwell and other southern televangelists, such as Pat Robertson, had formed the Christian right. Protesting abortion and gay rights, they led the South into the Republican Party, and for thirty-five years they were the sole voice of evangelicals to be heard nationally. Eventually a younger generation of leaders protested the Christian right’s close ties with the Republican Party and proposed a broader agenda of issues, such as climate change, gender equality, and immigration reform.Evangelicals have in many ways defined the nation. They have shaped our culture and our politics. Frances FitzGerald’s narrative of this distinctively American movement is a major work of history, piecing together the centuries-long story for the first time. Evangelicals now constitute twenty-five percent of the American population, but they are no longer monolithic in their politics. They range from Tea Party supporters to social reformers. Still, with the decline of religious faith generally, FitzGerald suggests that evangelical churches must embrace ethnic minorities if they are to survive.

    Insightful reflections reveal surprisingly simple things that can transform lives.

    In On Which Side of the Road Do the Flowers Grow?, Pastor Mettey shares the humorous and touching stories of his diverse congregation— ordinary people whose lives were infused with an awareness of God's real and abundant grace.On Which Side of the Road Do the Flowers Grow? is an excellent text for use in a small group or study class. The story-chapters provide a comprehensive, close-ended format for each session. Study guides are available to be used in conjunction with the book.

    While Pisces may value community, this book truly puts you first. Let the stars be your guide as you learn just how important astrology is to your self-care routine. Discover more about your sign and your ruling element, water, and then find the perfect set of self-care ideas and activities for you. From savoring a home-cooked meal to creating a personal altar, you will find more than one hundred ways to heal your mind, body, and active spirit. It’s stellar self-care especially for you, Pisces!

    Among Friends is a compilation of short stories and insightful lessons experienced on his many travels as a clergyman and motivational speaker. Whether recounting his sobering flying experiences, meeting the Pope, his encounter with the “Weed Man” or telling us about his “lead foot,” Father Jim teaches us lessons through powerful storytelling. As he takes us along on his journey from getting kicked out of seminary to hosting celebrities, such as Dolly Parton, Harry Connick Jr., Martin Short, Bill Cosby, and former First Lady Laura Bush, at his small Kentucky parish, Father Jim shines a light into the corners of the human heart to expose our need for God and the love He alone can give us. You will laugh, cry, and be taken back by his honesty. In all, Father Jim shows us what it means to love God, love others, and live life Among Friends.

    This handy little booklet makes a great gift! Features: 18 easy-to-understand questions and answers adapted from the best-selling Heaven Perfect gift for non-believers Great evangelism piece Convenient pocket-size, easy to fit in purses, backpacks, and briefcases Affordably priced

    Is it possible to become a living conduit of this powerful force? "Not only is it possible," suggests this bestselling author, "but grace is immediately accessible to you and everyone around you—through humility, devotion, and the courage to follow divine guidance." With Channeling Grace you are invited to ascend to what Myss calls the "altitude of the mystics" and invoke this expansive energy in your life. In session one, Myss explains how to recognize grace in your life by describing some of the countless ways we experience it—both internally as a sudden insightful voice, and externally as synchronicity in the world.In session two, she offers a full set of specific invocations to contact grace directly, navigate your path in times of chaos, gain clarity and direction in your life, and heal yourself or others. "Grace is as real and tangible as sparkling sand on the beach," teaches Myss. "It's ready to dramatically transform your life at any time—if you are willing to acknowledge and embrace it." On Channeling Grace, this renowned teacher offers her expert guidance to help you maintain a steadfast connection to the illuminating divine phenomenon she calls grace.

    Along with this genetic material, all of the emotional coding and experiences of these planets and species was left, laying the ground for “The Grand Experiment”. There are other timelines in which this experiment is not succeeding. But you, the version with which we are having this conversation, are successful and, hence, you are going through the ascension process. The information that is shared in this book is what we consider the most appropriate vibrational match for where you are right now. When we give information, we always look at the vibrational level of the majority of whom we think will be reading this. We do this to give you a version of the truth that will best serve you in accessing your highest potential. We are truly excited for you as you embark on this journey. This window in time is rife with amazing potential that is only limited by your imagination. The greatest challenge for you will be to release the constraints of your past beliefs and judgments and know that all things are possible. That is what ascension is all about. Despite negative aspects, games or manipulation, when you recognize that you are a creator being, you can change your version of reality. And when enough of you decide that you want a different version of reality, then a brand new timeline is created, followed by a change in current events, all leading to a brand new world. So, there is only one thing left to do: dream your most beautiful dream!

    The mythic legacy of the Scandinavians includes a cycle of stories filled with magnificent images from pre-Christian Europe. Gods, humans, and monstrous beasts engage in prodigious drinking bouts, contests of strength, greedy schemes for gold, and lusty encounters. The Norse pantheon includes Odin, the wisest and most fearsome of the gods; Thor, the thundering powerhouse; and the exquisite, magic-wielding Freyja. Their loves, wars, and adventures take us through worlds both mortal and divine, culminating in a blazing doomsday for gods and humans alike. These stories bear witness to the courage, passion, and boundless spirit that were hallmarks of the Norse world.“Kevin Crossley-Holland retells the Norse myths in clear, attractive prose . . . An excellent introduction, notes, and a glossary provide mythological and historical backgrounds and suggest parallels with myths in other parts of the world.”–The Denver Post

    On his deathbed, Socrates exhorted his followers to practice dying as the highest form of wisdom. Levine decided to live this way himself for a whole year, and now he shares with us how such immediacy radically changes our view of the world and forces us to examine our priorities. Most of us go to extraordinary lengths to ignore, laugh off, or deny the fact that we are going to die, but preparing for death is one of the most rational and rewarding acts of a lifetime. It is an exercise that gives us the opportunity to deal with unfinished business and enter into a new and vibrant relationship with life. Levine provides us with a year-long program of intensely practical strategies and powerful guided meditations to help with this work, so that whenever the ultimate moment does arrive for each of us, we will not feel that it has come too soon.

    Stephen Farmer claims that each of us inherited karma. If you come from a long line of saints and humanitarians, your life is probably pretty sweet. However, if you are like most folks, your forbears are probably a mixed bag of the good, the bad, and the ugly. As a result, you are living with some appalling karmic consequences.This is a book that shows readers how to free themselves from the negative cycles of the past, and how to tap into the ancient wisdom of their ancestors! He explains: how to activate and awaken ancient cellular memory of interconnectedness with all beingshow to heal hereditary traits and characteristics, such as DNA and cellular memory that have compromised physical, emotional, and mental health how to explore potential past livesNo matter what your current spiritual philosophy or practice, you can tap into your ancestral spirit guide for guidance, teaching, and healing.

    The basic teaching is that God alone is the all-pervading reality; the individual soul is none other than the universal soul. According to Shankara, it is the ignorance of our real nature that causes suffering and pain. The desire for happiness is essentially a longing to awaken to who and what we truly are. Through the path of self-knowledge, Shankara clearly teaches how to awaken from ignornce created by the mind, and abide in the peace of our true nature.

    Donald B. ArdellIt's hard enough to live a secular life in a religious world. And bringing up children without religious influence can be even more daunting. Despite the difficulties, a large and growing number of parents are choosing to raise their kids without religion.In Parenting Beyond Belief, Dale McGowan celebrates the freedom that comes with raising kids without formal indoctrination and advises parents on the most effective way to raise freethinking children.With advice from educators, doctors, psychologists, and philosophers as well as wisdom from everyday parents, the book offers tips and insights on a variety of topics, from "mixed marriages" to coping with death and loss, and from morality and ethics to dealing with holidays. Sensitive and timely, Parenting Beyond Belief features reflections from such freethinkers as Mark Twain, Richard Dawkins, Bertrand Russell, and wellness guru Dr. Don Ardell that will empower every parent to raise both caring and independent children without constraints.