Book picks similar to
Toni Morrison and the Idea of Africa by La Vinia Delois Jennings
religion-and-spirituality
diaspora-reads
literary-criticism
postcolonialism-and-thesis-inspo
God's Favorite House
Tommy Tenney - 2000
What would happen if the ancient patterns and old blueprints were rediscovered? What if the anointed practices were refreshed and restored? If we could "rebuild" that house, would He "revisit"? With the landscape littered with multi-million dollar steeples piercing God's atmosphere and stained windows coloring His sunshine, it would seem that the choice of His favorite house would be elaborate. Prepare to be surprised as you discover God's Favorite House. This expanded version of God's Favorite House, by best selling author Tommy Tenney, includes the never before released Study Guide.
Bridging Two Realms: Learn to Communicate with Your Loved Ones on the Other-Side
John Holland - 2018
Whether you’re a student of psychic studies or a practicing medium, a believer or a skeptic, or someone who is bereaved as a result of a loss, this book was written to provide you with all the answers to your questions about the Other-Side.In Bridging Two Realms, renowned psychic medium John Holland offers one of the clearest pictures anyone could have of the Spirit World. He draws on his decades of personal experiences with Spirit, and includes inspirational stories and real-life case studies, to help you pursue the unfoldment of your own spiritual abilities safely and wisely. His hope is to help the bereaved by giving them comfort and inspiration in knowing that there really is life after physical death. There is evidence of the Spirit World and what happens in those spiritual realms. Your loved ones are just a thought away, and you can still communicate with them. They’re still close, and they often try to reach out to us to lend their love and support.Ultimately, you will learn that mediumship is not just about connecting to the Spirit World; it’s just as much about helping and healing the living. There are spiritual bridges that can be built to connect to your loved ones who have passed, as well as the most important bridge of all: the bridge to your own spirit.
The Mother
Sri Aurobindo - 1927
Revelatory, inspired writing, frequently called the "Matri Upanishad".
Snow rising
Matt Baldwin - 2010
Ironically, he acted in ways that got him the exact opposite of what he wanted. Now, his relationship with his wife is hanging by a thread, he is miserable at work, and worst of all, he feels disgusted at the thought that his kids are suffering because of choices he's made. Is there a way out?Although this book follows Jason Snow on a life-changing quest beginning at the base of Mt. Hood, Snow Rising is not a novel. It's an invitation to take a personal journey. Author Matthew Baldwin says, "I invite you to join Jason Snow, and leave you with two questions: one, can you be an advocate for the changes you desire to see in yourself and in the world around you; and two, do you have the audacity to find out?"Snow Rising can put individuals back together, revitalize marriages and families, and help recover fractured organizations. It shares four axioms, absolute truths, that are at the root of all happiness. But as the author says, "Then again, perhaps the answer is not in the answer, but in the journey to the answer."Take the journey. Make the change. Know the peace.
Magickal Cashbook: Attract Money Fast With Ancient Secrets And Modern Wealth Magick
Damon Brand - 2014
If you want to investigate an occult power that works, you've come to the right place. This mix of ancient symbols and modern secrets gets surprise bursts of money flowing into your life.Author Damon Brand says, 'Believe it or not, most money magick doesn't work. I've used just about every ritual, chant or spell you can imagine. Money magick was always the most difficult to master, until I discovered a heartwarming secret.'Damon Brand has taken the best parts of this secret system and turned it into series of steps that get money magick working for you fast.Uncover three keys for making magick work.Learn to attract 'emergency cash' when you need it the most.Discover the secret sigil that brings you money.Attract the steady bursts of income you need.Discover the Words of Power that bring this magick to life.Can you imagine what it would be like to feel your magick working? Don't wait for things to change. Use magick and make the changes you want now.
The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel: John Williams, Stoner, and the Writing Life
Charles J. Shields - 2016
Yet John Williams's quietly powerful tale of a Midwestern college professor, William Stoner, whose life becomes a parable of solitude and anguish eventually found an admiring audience in America and especially in Europe. The New York Times called Stoner "a perfect novel," and a host of writers and critics, including Colum McCann, Julian Barnes, Bret Easton Ellis, Ian McEwan, Emma Straub, Ruth Rendell, C. P. Snow, and Irving Howe, praised its artistry. The New Yorker deemed it "a masterly portrait of a truly virtuous and dedicated man."The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel traces the life of Stoner's author, John Williams. Acclaimed biographer Charles J. Shields follows the whole arc of Williams's life, which in many ways paralleled that of his titular character, from their shared working-class backgrounds to their undistinguished careers in the halls of academia. Shields vividly recounts Williams's development as an author, whose other works include the novels Butcher's Crossing and Augustus (for the latter, Williams shared the 1972 National Book Award). Shields also reveals the astonishing afterlife of Stoner, which garnered new fans with each American reissue, and then became a bestseller all over Europe after Dutch publisher Lebowski brought out a translation in 2013. Since then, Stoner has been published in twenty-one countries and has sold over a million copies.
Worship is a Verb: Eight Principles for Transforming Worship
Robert E. Webber - 1985
It isn't an entertaining showcase for a talented soprano or a lecture on textual criticism or a pleasant weekly reunion of friends and family. Instead, true worship is a joyous celebration of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as we actively turn our hearts toward God in earnest praise of God's great works, God in turn speaks to us and blesses us with a healing and renewing touch.In this life-changing and dynamic book, Robert Webber declares that worship is not "something done to us or for us, but by us." It is the most exhaustive demonstration of our faith and the most intimate form of relationship we can have with our Savior. Complete with a guide for group of personal study, "Worship Is a Verb" will show you how to leave the dull confines of the pew and enter the courts of the Living God.
Ganesha's Secret: Food alone does not satisfy hunger
Devdutt Pattanaik - 2017
A perfect obeisance to a God who is worshipped across India as the ‘remover of obstacles’ during the ten-day festival which is celebrated with much gusto.
Dorothy Parker: In Her Own Words
Dorothy Parker - 2004
Combing through her stories, poems, articles, reviews, correspondence, and even her rare journalism and song lyrics, editor Barry Day has selected and arranged passages that describe her life and its preoccupations-urban living, the theater and cinema, the battle of the sexes, and death by dissipation. Best known for her scathing pieces for the New Yorker and her membership in the Algonquin Round Table ("The greatest collection of unsaleable wit in America."), Parker filled her work with a unique mix of fearlessness, melancholy, savvy, and hope. In Dorothy Parker, the irrepressible writer addresses: her early career writing for magazines; her championing of social causes such as integration; and the obsession with suicide that became another drama ("Scratch an actor...and you'll find an actress."), literature ("This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.") and much more.
Quaker faith & practice
Religious Society of Friends - 2013
It is largely composed of extracts: a fitting way of expressing the breadth of Quaker theology. It also describes the current structures of Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.
The Necessity of Atheism
David Marshall Brooks - 1933
And all religious beliefs are "crutches" hindering the free locomotive efforts of an advancing humanity. There are no problems related to human progress and happiness in this age which any theology can solve, and which the teachings of freethought cannot do better and without the aid of encumbrances.
Solid Ground: Buddhist Wisdom for Difficult Times
Sylvia Boorstein - 2011
Sylvia Boorstein, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche draw on their own experiences with suffering, as well as their many years of practice, to illustrate how we can find serenity and compassion in even the most stressful situations. Solid Ground offers humor, insight, and practical advice as well as five guided meditations for soothing our thoughts and increasing our capacity for equanimity and joy.
Believing History: Latter-Day Saint Essays
Richard L. Bushman - 2004
By describing his own struggle to find a basis for belief in a skeptical world, Bushman poses the question of how scholars are to write about subjects in which they are personally invested. Does personal commitment make objectivity impossible? Bushman explicitly, and at points confessionally, explains his own commitments and then explores Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon from the standpoint of belief.Joseph Smith cannot be dismissed as a colorful fraud, Bushman argues, nor seen only as a restorer of religious truth. Entangled in nineteenth-century Yankee culture--including the skeptical Enlightenment--Smith was nevertheless an original who cut his own path. And while there are multiple contexts from which to draw an understanding of Joseph Smith (including magic, seekers, the Second Great Awakening, communitarianism, restorationism, and more), Bushman suggests that Smith stood at the cusp of modernity and presented the possibility of belief in a time of growing skepticism.When examined carefully, the Book of Mormon is found to have intricate subplots and peculiar cultural twists. Bushman discusses the book's ambivalence toward republican government, explores the culture of the Lamanites (the enemies of the favored people), and traces the book's fascination with records, translation, and history. Yet Believing History also sheds light on the meaning of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon today. How do we situate Mormonism in American history? Is Mormonism relevant in the modern world?Believing History offers many surprises. Believers will learn that Joseph Smith is more than an icon, and non-believers will find that Mormonism cannot be summed up with a simple label. But wherever readers stand on Bushman's arguments, he provides us with a provocative and open look at a believing historian studying his own faith.
Stoicism: A Stoic Approach to Modern Life
Tom Miles - 2015
This is doubly true for philosophical concepts – the word Epicurean, for example, has been transmuted from identifying the very sober and level teachings of the Greek philosopher Epicurus to being a synonym for wanton pleasure-seeking and hedonism.Stoicism hasn't suffered as severe a distortion. The modern understanding of what it means to be stoical is never showing any form of outward emotion regardless of all circumstances, good or bad, and indeed not having any emotions whatsoever. The entire species of the Vulcans in the popular science fiction franchise Star Trek exemplifies the popular definition. But it's easy to recognize an absence of outward emotion as not necessarily being a good thing – it is possible, after all, for someone to have a calm and blank exterior and yet be screaming inside. Having no internal emotion at all is also a less-than-ideal situation as well. Without emotion, how could one possibly enjoy life?Being immune to the negatives and vicissitudes of life in this way is something we can all stand to benefit from. Our modern lives are so full of worries and insecurities, and peace and fulfillment are something most people try to find outside of themselves. Stoicism teaches that these are things we can only find from inside ourselves, and gives us the tools and mindset necessary to build them up.What this book will endeavor to do is to introduce the philosophy of Stoicism to the modern person and make a case for how it can drastically improve our outlook and quality of lifeIt will begin with a brief retelling of the early history of Stoicism, followed by an examination of the mindset that Stoics employ and the core tenet from through which we interpret everything we come across. It will then move on to two extremely powerful practical exercises – one physical and one mental – by which we can gain control over our internal state. After that it will give a rundown of some of the most powerful pieces of advice and implications of Stoicism as they have been passed down through the ages. Finally, because it is important to see the benefits of Stoicism in action, it will give some practical, more modern examples of people who have used it to overcome trials and adversity. And, because no single book could ever encompass the full breadth of Stoical wisdom, a short bibliography for the individual who wishes to explore further is given at the very end.Here's a preview of what's insideStoicism and StoicismA Brief History of StoicismThe Stoical MindsetDifferentiating ControlPractical exercises for eliminating negative emotions and promoting inner peaceGeneral precepts and advice
With Full Purpose of Heart
Dallin H. Oaks - 2002
Oaks, former President of Brigham Young University, and justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and now a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, one of the governing bodies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church). Elder Oaks presented these at various sessions of the LDS General Conference, and at devotionals and firesides at BYU.