"'Vanity of vanities, ' says the Preacher, 'Vanity of vanities! All is vanity'" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). This is the conclusion that many eventually reach when they consider their earthly existence. It is where Solomon begins this book before explaining his experiences as he searched for purpose of life under the sun. At the end we find the conclusion -- man's purpose in life -- "Fear God and keep His commandments" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Vanity of Vanities is a verse-by-verse commentary based upon the New American Standard version of the book of Ecclesiastes. It is a handy reference tool to aid you in your study of the text.
2021 Catholic Media Association Award third place award in academic studies Qoheleth, also called Ecclesiastes, has been bad news for women throughout history. In this commentary Lisa Wolfe offers intriguing new possibilities for feminist interpretation of the book's parts, including Qoheleth's most offensive passages, and as a whole. Throughout her interpretation, Wolfe explores multiple connections between this book and women of all times, from investigating how the verbs in the time poem in 3:1-8 may relate to biblical and contemporary women alike, to noting that if 11:1 indicates ancient beer making it thus reveals the women who made the beer itself. In the end, Wolfe argues that, by struggling with the perplexing text of Qoheleth, we may discover fruitful, against-the-grain reading strategies for our own time.
Vintage Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities, the #1 bestseller that will forever define late-twentieth-century New York style. "No one has portrayed New York Society this accurately and devastatingly since Edith Wharton" (The National Review) “A page-turner . . . Brilliant high comedy.” (The New Republic) Sherman McCoy, the central figure of Tom Wolfe's first novel, is a young investment banker with a fourteen-room apartment in Manhattan. When he is involved in a freak accident in the Bronx, prosecutors, politicians, the press, the police, the clergy, and assorted hustlers high and low close in on him, licking their chops and giving us a gargantuan helping of the human comedy, of New York in the 1980s, a city boiling over with racial and ethnic hostilities and burning with the itch to Grab It Now. Wolfe's novel is a big, panoramic story of the metropolis that reinforces the author's reputation as the foremost chronicler of the way we live in America. Adapted to film in 1990 by director Brian De Palma, the movie stars Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, and Morgan Freeman.
What is life for? What may give it meaning? Does it have any meaning at all? A sage in ancient Israel brooded over these questions. In ancient India, too, such questions drove a despairing warrior to seek answers from his divine friend Krishna. The thoughts of the sage became the wisdom book Ecclesiastes; those of Krishna, the Bhagavad-gītā. Their wisdom speaks to our deepest concerns. In Vanity Karma, wisdom meets wisdom as these two perennial classics come together, both offering us profound understanding. And a deep and authentic spiritual understanding, we may find, can infuse our lives with meaning and with joy. Vanity Karma brings you on a journey through the full text of Ecclesiastes, a journey illuminated by traditional biblical scholarship, insights from the Bhagavad-gītā, a dash of autobiography, and a steady spiritual focus.
An insightful, inspiring, “candid and warm” (Booklist) memoir from Karamo Brown—beloved culture expert from Netflix’s Queer Eye—as he shares his story for the first time, exploring how the challenges in his own life have allowed him to forever transform the lives of those in need. When Karamo Brown first auditioned for the casting directors of Queer Eye, he knew he wouldn’t win the role of culture expert by discussing art and theater. Instead he decided to redefine what “culture” could—and should—mean for the show. He took a risk and declared, “I am culture.” After all, Karamo believes culture is how people feel about themselves and others, how they relate to the world around them, and how their shared labels, burdens, and experiences affect their daily lives in ways both subtle and profound. Seen through this lens, Karamo is culture: his family is Jamaican and Cuban; he was raised in the South in predominantly white neighborhoods and attended an HBCU (Historically Black College/University); he was trained as a social worker and psychotherapist; he overcame personal issues of colorism, physical and emotional abuse, alcohol and drug addiction, and public infamy; he is a proud and dedicated gay single father of two boys, one biological and one adopted. In “this soul-soothing memoir” (O, The Oprah Magazine), Karamo reflects on his lifelong education. It comprises every adversity he has overcome, as well as the lessons he has learned along the way. It is only by exploring our difficulties and having the hard conversations—with ourselves and one another—that we are able to adjust our mind-sets, heal emotionally, and move forward to live our best lives. “During every episode of Queer Eye, there’s at least one touching moment where Karamo Brown drops some serious wisdom about self-love and makes everybody cry. His moving memoir about overcoming adversity captures that feeling in book form” (HelloGiggles).
When U.S. Historian John Abbott moves to modern day Vietnam, he is emotionally torn between his past and his future. In 1969 his father went missing in Vietnam, but not before fathering a son with a local woman named Chi. Mỹ Linh, Abbott's girlfriend and Vietnamese national, accidentally uncovers the forty-year-old secret claiming to have found Abbott's lost step-brother, Nguyen, and possibly providing Abbott hope of once again having a family to call his own. They both decide to track down Nguyen and discover he has a family, including a daughter named Phuong.Meanwhile, Mỹ Linh is pregnant with twins and Abbott is confronted with the fortieth anniversary of his grandfather's death that he witnessed tragically. Only his best friend, Maddox, seems to have an explanation for the turmoil Abbott faces and acts like a beacon of light for the lost soul. When Maddox is found dead in a hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia he leaves Abbott with a coded message, leading him to the Angkor temples and to the possibility of a long undiscovered treasure. Abbott and Danielle, a secret companion to the American, are accidentally found in a plot of murder and betrayal that could cost them their lives, if not the temple's fortune. The mystery becomes deeper as Abbott enters the forgotten sanctuary of the temple and encounters a supernatural force ready to end the fate of mankind once and for all.Vanity of Vanities is a story filled with romance and heartache while revolving within a richly historical and modern account of Texas and Vietnam. Life often takes daunting and surprising paths with the power of fate guiding true love through an unforgettable story in a strange new land hidden behind a veil of ancient and modern mystery.
Combining the best and most recent evangelical Christian scholarship with the highly regarded ESV text, the ESV Study Bible is the most comprehensive study Bible ever published.
Do you have a hard time focusing your mind on Christ and spiritual things? Do you struggle with sinful or wandering thoughts? Thomas Goodwin shows us the tendency of our minds to vain thoughts and encourages us with several remedies that will help to keep our minds stayed on the Lord.
