When Elizabeth Roberts twice lost her sight, she felt she had lost her self, as well. Months and years of darkness loomed ahead. How could she continue the life she once had? Could she be self-reliant and independent? Could she find happiness in accomplishment again? This collection of stories, poems, and essays reflects her journey to go beyond loss . . . to regain life. She recalls disturbing times of abuse as she seeks a newly-defined self. She finds wonderfully implausible moments of humor involving students, teachers, and colleagues. Furthermore, the abiding love for a small donkey, a gray cat, and a cherished friend brings positive, though poignant, remembrances. The glimpses of her life reveal frustration and fear, as well as joy, contentment, and peace, but most of all, the hope and love she needs to survive, to live, to flourish. Through the authors loss of sight and search for vision, we see resilience and achievement and . . . love.
The work that goes into managing a home can sometimes feel boring and insignificant. Furman reminds women of the gospel's extraordinary power over ordinary life, helping homemakers see and savor the miraculous in the mundane.
Beloved Jesuit priest and author of the inspirational bestsellers Tattoos on the Heart and Barking to the Choir returns with a call to witness the transformative power of tenderness, rooted in his lifetime of experience counseling gang members in Los Angeles. Over the past thirty years, Gregory Boyle has transformed thousands of lives through his work as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest and most successful gang-intervention program in the world. Now, following his acclaimed bestsellers Tattoos on the Heart, “destined to become a classic of both urban reportage and contemporary spirituality” (Los Angeles Times), and Barking to the Choir, deemed “a beautiful and important and soul-transporting book” by Elizabeth Gilbert comes The Whole Language, a book that “filled my cup with hope” (The Jesuit Review). In a community struggling to overcome systemic poverty and violence, The Whole Language shows how those at Homeboy Industries fight despair and remain generous, hopeful, and tender. When Saul was thirteen years old, he killed his abusive stepfather in self-defense; after spending twenty-three years in juvenile and adult jail, he enters the Homeboy Industries training and healing programs and embraces their mission. Declaring, “I’ve decided to grow up to be somebody I always needed as a child,” Saul shows tenderness toward the young men in his former shoes, treating them all like his sons and helping them to find their way. Before coming to Homeboy Industries, a young man named Abel was shot thirty-three times, landing him in a coma for six months followed by a year and a half recuperating in the hospital. He now travels on speaking tours with Boyle and gives guided tours around the Homeboy offices. One day a new trainee joins Abel as a shadow, and Abel recognizes him as the young man who had put him in a coma. “You give good tours,” the trainee tells Abel. They both have embarked on a path to wholeness. Boyle’s moving stories challenge our ideas about God and about people, providing a window into a world filled with fellowship, compassion, and fewer barriers. Bursting with encouragement, humor, and hope, The Whole Language invites us to treat others—and ourselves—with acceptance and tenderness.
Drawn from her decades of experience as a hospice nurse, Trudy Harris shares stories that offer an incredible glimpse at what lies beyond this world--ethereal music, colors that did not exist on earth, angels, and loved ones who have gone on before. She has been with hundreds of patients as they took their last breaths and knows the kinds of questions that both the dying and their loved ones ask: What happens when we die? What should I say to a loved one who is dying? How can I make a dying friend feel safe? The stories she shares will bring the reader comfort and peace even amidst pain. Tender, heartbreaking, and eye-opening, this expanded edition of the New York Times bestseller offers more incredible windows into the world beyond and life after death.
Living in the ruins of the idealistic 1960s, Ray Shackleford, a veteran of failed garage bands, works as a repairman and tends to his dying marriage. When he finds the music of his dreams has been mysteriously recorded, Ray is drawn to the past to revisit the histories of Hendrix, Morrison, the Beatles--along with his own history.
Collects true stories of the beauty and pain of life's end from medical professionals, hospice workers, and the author's own experiences as a hospice nurse.
This book investigates facets of the physical world, including the drag on small projectiles; the importance of diffusion and convection; the size-dependence of acceleration; the storage, conduction, and dissipation of heat; the relationship among pressure, flow, and choice in biological pumps; and how elongate structures tune their relative twistiness and bendiness. It considers design-determining factors and builds a bridge between the world described by physics books and the reality experienced by all creatures.
"Effortless mindfulness" is a new way to immediately enter an optimal flow state available to us in the midst of our busy lives. In The Way of Effortless Mindfulness, Loch Kelly teaches that when you "unhook" awareness from chattering thoughts, you can access a peaceful mind and a naturally embodied wakefulness. From this heartful space, students report they find that right action comes easily and a loving tenderness for all of life is freely available. This follow-up to Kelly’s award-winning Shift into Freedom outlines practical and supportive material from neuroscience, psychology, and the wisdom of various spiritual traditions. Here you will find a reader-friendly guide to understanding exactly what effortless mindfulness is, practices for engaging with it, and how to avoid the pitfalls to the full embodiment of this timeless awareness. The Way of Effortless Mindfulness offers a compelling introduction to the next stage in the ongoing mindfulness revolution.
Have you ever longed to catch a glimpse of God’s greatness, his mercy and forgiveness? Even a small glimpse can alter your life for the better and forever. This book is but a small sample of those glimpses. This was not a onetime endeavor but represents a lifetime journey from young adulthood into later retirement years. My heart’s desire is to share glimpses of what God has given me along my journey of faith and maybe cause you to come closer to God. As you read, take your time to pause and reflect, place aside and come back when you are ready. In so doing, you may catch your own glimpse of what God wants to show you—a glimpse of those things for which your spirit longs.
He can see into her past... He can see into her secrets... He can see into the deepest desires of her heart... Only in his dreams has Burke Grisham, the once dissolute Earl of Thornwald, seen a lady as exquisite as Catherine Snow. Now, standing before him at last is the mysterious beauty whose life he has glimpsed in strange visions-whose voice called him back from death and the shimmering radiance beyond, on the bloody field of Waterloo. But she is also the widow of the friend he destroyed: the one woman who scorns him; the one woman he must possess. Catherine detests Lord Thornwald as the handsome daredevil who led her estranged husband into a decadent life and a reckless death in battle. Yet now, even as she resists his strange connection to her mind, she years for him to conquer her heart. But does this infamous rake think her his next plaything? Or is Burke truly sent, as he vows, to save Catherine from a danger only he can see-and sweep her up in a love born of eternal light?
