Reflections of a Life Worth Living
Reflections of a Life Worth Living

Author: Matthew Shea

Publisher: America Star Books

Published: 2015-02-02

Total Pages: 35

ISBN-13: 1635086434

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This book is about a life worth living. I was born with a rare, genetic disorder called Sotos Syndrome, which caused me to grow faster, have some learning trouble and other disabilities making me seem different from most people. It tells about my life growing up in a wonderful family but also shows how Sotos Syndrome changed things. None of it was easy but with help from family and community, there was a lot of success. I also graduated from Oklahoma Wesleyan University, a four-year college. The purpose of this book is to spread the word not only about my life but also to raise the awareness of Sotos Syndrome and to encourage all persons who have it or live with someone who does. It is also a means to show and teach people who have never heard of it or who may have misunderstood the condition so they may understand better. The book may teach that a person with disabilities is the way he was made by God and that everyone's life is worth living with great success. From typical fights to disabilities, Matthew and his brother, Patrick, faced everything together as far as they could and when they could. They are two brothers who shared disabilities, not the same ones but conditions that were there for all to see. Matthew has a disability called Sotos Syndrome that has no cure. Patrick had different physical problems. None of this kept the boys from living as greatly and fully as well as they could. Both graduated from high school and Matthew has a college degree. Matthew lives in Portland, Oregon, helps in his church, works at his job and lives a great life. He tells about his Sotos Syndrome experiences, recognizes it as a disability and intends to show others that they, too, can do a lot, can achieve their hopes and dreams because life is worth living and getting the best is possible with lots of work.

Witness to Life Worth Living
Witness to Life Worth Living

Author: Aleksandar S. Santrac

Publisher:

Published: 2016-05-03

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781498289368

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This book is an exposition of the basic themes of the work of Miroslav Volf, the Yale ecumenical theologian who has written much about the ethics of embrace, life worth living and human flourishing, and my personal reflections on these themes. The volume is the first of its kind. So far there has been no attempt to systematize Volf's theology and ethics. However, the book is not just a simple description of Volf's work. It tries to merge into one single theological reflection Volf's two basic paradigms: the ethics of embrace and the concept of life worth living. It also demonstrates a unique approach from the perspective of the personal and spiritual reflections of the author who shares a worldview similar to Miroslav Volf's. The book is strengthened by many references to personal interviews and conversations with Miroslav Volf. ""Witness to Life Worth Living is a critical scholarly engagement with my work. [Santrac] dare[s] to leave the secure ground of scholarly analysis and venture into the choppy waters of lived experience."" --Miroslav Volf Aleksandar S. Santrac, DPhil, PhD, is Professor of Ethics and Philosophy and Chair of Religion Department at Washington Adventist University, Maryland, and holds the position of Extraordinary Professor of Dogmatics, North-West University, South Africa, and Tutor for Graduate Studies of Ethics and Dogmatics at Greenwich School of Theology (UK). He is the author of six books in philosophy of religion, dogmatic theology and biblical studies, and numerous articles in both peer reviewed and other journals.

A Life Worth Living
A Life Worth Living

Author: Robert Zaretsky

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2013-11-07

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 0674728378

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Exploring themes that preoccupied Albert Camus--absurdity, silence, revolt, fidelity, and moderation--Robert Zaretsky portrays a moralist who refused to be fooled by the nobler names we assign to our actions, and who pushed himself, and those about him, to challenge the status quo. For Camus, rebellion against injustice is the human condition.

Reflections of the One Life
Reflections of the One Life

Author: Scott Kiloby

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Published: 2014-11-07

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 1626257647

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Reflections on the One Life is a book of daily expressions or pointers to spiritual awakening—one pointer for each day of the year. The clarity is astounding. This demystifies spiritual awakening, strips it of all fundamentalism, and presents it in a clear and easy-to-read way. This is about the timeless presence that you already are. Each pointer peels away beliefs, positions, and ideas about spirituality, including the idea that you exist as a separate self, only to reveal—in the end—that nothing is excluded. Its central message is that there is only One Life appearing in a myriad of forms. You are that One Life. This is when the distinctions between absolute and relative, form and formlessness, timelessness and time, no self and self, One and many, and all other boundaries collapse into a great and loving mystery that Scott calls 'This’.

In Love with Life
In Love with Life

Author: John Lachs

Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 9780826513281

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Offers clear and instructive wisdom on how love of life enriches and drives human existence, even in the face of inevitable sadness, loss, and death. Ancient philosophers used to write "how-to" manuals for living. The classical American philosophers Dewey, Santayana, James, and Royce all published works that dealt with everyday concerns and issues that affected all people. Yet today, many academic philosophers talk mostly among themselves about technical points in logic or semantics or other abstruse subjects less applicable to everyday life. Not John Lachs. In this engaging book, Lachs reminds us of the centrality of philosophy to life. He provides us with a philosophy of living and a framework to apply to the most basic and critical issues we face. He enables us to see things in new and expansive ways. Fundamental ethical choices such as suicide and euthanasia, the trying and often meaningless circumstances of modern life, confusions of ends and means, and just being tired of it all-- these concerns all come under Lachs's discerning eye. He advocates confronting the complexities of life head on, with courage and persistence. Only through our own efforts and activities can we place our experiences in new and broader contexts, enabling us to find release from despair and frustration and to derive the most out of even the worst situations. Lachs shows that the good life involves joyous energy to the end. In Love with Life will help readers tap life's resources to face inescapable sadness, loss, and death. This is a book for everyone who has ever wondered how to reconcile the pervasive joys and frequent doubts that life presents to all of us. Thoughtful readers will find both inspiration and tough-minded virtue in this book.

What Makes Life Worth Living
What Makes Life Worth Living

Author: Bernard Stiegler

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-11-18

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 0745681948

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In the aftermath of the First World War, the poet Paul Valéry wrote of a ‘crisis of spirit’, brought about by the instrumentalization of knowledge and the destructive subordination of culture to profit. Recent events demonstrate all too clearly that that the stock of mind, or spirit, continues to fall. The economy is toxically organized around the pursuit of short-term gain, supported by an infantilizing, dumbed-down media. Advertising technologies make relentless demands on our attention, reducing us to idiotic beasts, no longer capable of living. Spiralling rates of mental illness show that the fragile life of the mind is at breaking point. Underlying these multiple symptoms is consumer capitalism, which systematically immiserates those whom it purports to liberate. Returning to Marx’s theory, Stiegler argues that consumerism marks a new stage in the history of proletarianization. It is no longer just labour that is exploited, pushed below the limits of subsistence, but the desire that is characteristic of human spirit. The cure to this malaise is to be found in what Stiegler calls a ‘pharmacology of the spirit’. Here, pharmacology has nothing to do with the chemical supplements developed by the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmakon, defined as both cure and poison, refers to the technical objects through which we open ourselves to new futures, and thereby create the spirit that makes us human. By reference to a range of figures, from Socrates, Simondon and Derrida to the child psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, Stiegler shows that technics are both the cause of our suffering and also what makes life worth living.

Pursuing the Good Life
Pursuing the Good Life

Author: Christopher Peterson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-01-10

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 0199916357

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Reveals small but significant actions people can take to lead happier lives, offering reflections on such topics as family, relationships, work, school, sports, emotions, and experiences.

The Five Invitations
The Five Invitations

Author: Frank Ostaseski

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Published: 2017-03-14

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1250074665

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The cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project and pioneer behind the compassionate care movement shares an inspiring exploration of the lessons dying has to offer about living a fulfilling life. Death is not waiting for us at the end of a long road. Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment. She is the secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most. Life and death are a package deal. They cannot be pulled apart and we cannot truly live unless we are aware of death. The Five Invitations is an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining an ever-present consciousness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. As a renowned teacher of compassionate caregiving and the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. In The Five Invitations, he distills the lessons gleaned over the course of his career, offering an evocative and stirring guide that points to a radical path to transformation. The Five Invitations: -Don’t Wait -Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing -Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience -Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things -Cultivate Don’t Know Mind These Five Invitations show us how to wake up fully to our lives. They can be understood as best practices for anyone coping with loss or navigating any sort of transition or crisis; they guide us toward appreciating life’s preciousness. Awareness of death can be a valuable companion on the road to living well, forging a rich and meaningful life, and letting go of regret. The Five Invitations is a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us.

On Living Well
On Living Well

Author: Eugene H. Peterson

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2021-11-16

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1601429797

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In these never-before-published stories, sayings, and biblical teachings, the beloved author and translator of The Message Bible shows us how the wisdom of deep faith helps us live well. “Calming, encouraging, and profound.”—Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church “Jesus’ words bring us the news of an expanded world, a bright world, a full-dimensioned world, a world in which God rules, mercy is common experience, and love is the daily working agenda.” Eugene H. Peterson (1932–2018) was one of the most beloved authors, pastors, poets, and professors of our time. While millions have read his bestselling paraphrased Bible translation, The Message, far fewer have heard his direct practical insights and wisdom about how to live well. Eugene knew the extraordinary spirituality of ordinary life. He understood that we actually become more, not less, human as we grow to live like Jesus. And living like Jesus means living well. On Living Well collects some of Eugene’s best never-before-published short writings to help you walk in the way of Jesus with a little more courage, passion, and hope—by offering new ways to practice generosity, community, prayer, simplicity, worship, inner peace, and so much more . . . even with the challenges of today. This book is a rich feast for the soul, ideal as a daily spiritual touchpoint or simply to nourish a heart hungry for pastoral wisdom. It is your invitation to enter into the meaningful simplicity of life with Jesus in a world of immense beauty, real difficulty, and endless wonder.

The Life of Meaning
The Life of Meaning

Author: Bob Abernethy

Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Published: 2011-01-04

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 1609800001

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PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, which Bob Abernethy conceived and anchors, has been described as "the best spot on the television landscape to take in the broad view of the spiritual dimension of American life . . ." by the Christian Science Monitor. "Finally," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle, "something intelligent on TV about religion." Now, together with his coauthor William Bole, Abernethy has turned his attention to making a book that asks all the big questions—and elicits the most surprising answers from a who’s-who of today’s serious religious and spiritual thinkers from across the spectrum of faiths and denominations. In this thoughtful collection, extraordinary people give their personal and private accounts of their own spiritual struggle. Their insights on community, prayer, suffering, religious observance, the choice to live with or without a god, and the meanings that are gleaned from everyday life form an elegant meditation on the desire for something beyond what we can see and measure. More than fifty contributors, including Jimmy Carter, Francis Collins, The Dalai Lama, Robert Franklin, Irving Greenberg, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Harold Kushner, Anne Lamott, Madeleine L’Engle, Thomas Lynch, Martin Marty, Mark Noll, Rachel Remen, Marilynne Robinson, Barbara Brown Taylor, Studs Terkel, Thich Nhat Hanh, Phyllis Tickle, Desmond Tutu, Jean Vanier, and Marianne Williamson.