What does place mean for human beings? What does it mean to exist in space? How do we place ourselves not only in physical space, but within the interior landscape of consciousness? Place Meant is an interdisciplinary exploration of these and related questions, through the lenses of psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology, geography, folklore, memoir, and the history of ideas. It will be of interest to anyone who has traveled the earth and pondered their relationship to home, away, and the world at large.
What is our purpose in life? Is there an even grander story at work behind our salvation in Christ? Drawing on the reflections of early church writers and theologians, Who We Were Meant to Be invites the reader to consider the whole tapestry of God's plan from start to finish, culminating in a vision of all creation being restored and renewed as the temple of God's glory. Guided by the wisdom and insights of the patristic age, this book urges us to take up the mantle of our appointed role as royal priests, not only as a status to be enjoyed, but as a vocation to shape our entire lives. We have an open invitation to recapture the grand theological vision of Christianity's early centuries, and to step once again into the transfiguring light of who we were meant to be.
Featuring strong queer female protagonists who must navigate class, race, religion, language, and nationality, Mala Kumar’s What It Meant to Survive is a poignant and heartbreaking commentary on life in modern-day America and Nigeria. Ramya and Juliet begin to uplift each other and heal the moment they match on Tinder. For nearly a decade, Ramya, an American of Indian origin from Virginia, has grappled with her survivor’s guilt from a devastating mass shooting that occurred during her last year of university. Halfway around the world in Nigeria, Juliet has survived family tragedies, economic downturns, and an oppressive patriarchy. With a one-chance swipe on their phones in a country foreign to them both, the two women begin a remarkable romantic relationship that most fairy tales wouldn’t dare to depict. But can they hold onto each other? As their lives intertwine, Ramya suffers acute memory loss so pronounced that she sometimes forgets where she is, who she’s with, and even who she is. Periodically, Juliet experiences time freezes that throw her out of sync with everyone around her. Ultimately, the two women choose to begin a new life together in New York City, where their love will be acknowledged and respected. But for Juliet to make it through the American immigration process, the two women must get to the root causes of these memory loss and time-lapse episodes by coming to terms with their pasts. Written by a singularly talented, wildly imaginative novelist, What It Meant to Survive is a powerful and bracing work of fiction inspired by the Virginia Tech Massacre, and the author's real-life experience navigating its long-term social and emotional impacts.
