Higher education today faces challenges from all sides, but college can provide young people with an opportunity to explore what it means to live a meaningful life. Increasingly, undergraduate education encourages students to reflect on their many callings in life, but this does not need to be a purely individual pursuit. This volume provides an argument for helping students to think about the interconnectedness of individual and communal life as they reflect on their various vocations.
Unknowingly, too many of us operate from an inward mindset—a narrow-minded focus on self-centered goals and objectives. When faced with personal ineffectiveness or lagging organizational performance, most of us instinctively look for quick-fix behavioral band-aids, not recognizing the underlying mindset at the heart of our most persistent challenges. Through true stories and simple yet profound guidance and tools, The Outward Mindset enables individuals and organizations to make the one change that most dramatically improves performance, sparks collaboration, and accelerates innovation—a shift to an outward mindset.
So often in the Christian community we hear the question, What do we need to do to reach the unreached? While this appears to be a good question, perhaps its the wrong question. Instead of focusing on what might be best practices, our answers tend to revolve around what are best practices for us. The better question is, How can the unreached be reached? This takes us out of the center of the story and seeks to find the best methods and means to reach those who need to clearly hear the good news of Gods grace.
Burnett, widow of Flight 93 hero Tom Burnett, tells the story of how she fought back to find purpose and joy in her life again, after her husband was killed on that fateful day.
We live in a time when attention spans are shrinking while demands on our emotions are accelerating at ever increasing rates. The media that once brought us news now seems determined to interpret it, forcing us to take sides rather than come to understanding. This growing white noise of conflict threatens to overwhelm our ability to find peace of mind. How can we clear away the unnecessary clutter and help ourselves, and others lead lives of true contentment and continuing growth? The answer to this question is found in a remarkable new book, Beyond Help, by Dr. Camaron J Thomas. It is a breakthrough guide that shows us, step by step, how we can help ourselves and others become better human beings in a dehumanizing world. Thomas text is profound yet easy to grasp and richly illustrated by examples taken from her long experience as a professional mediator. It leads the reader through the challenges and pitfalls of self-perception to the heights of the abiding presence; showing us how to cast debilitating baggage aside along the way so we can rise to our fullest potential. Beyond Help breaks the mold of self-help publications by empowering rather than manipulating the reader. It is a lifeline to anyone struggling to evolve in the turbulent waters racing beneath the surface of todays social network.
In The Purpose Gap, Patrick Reyes reflects on a family member's death after a long struggle with incarceration and homelessness. As he asks himself why his cousin's life had turned out so differently from his own, he realizes that it was a matter of conditions. While they both grew up in the same marginalized Chicano community in central California, Patrick found himself surrounded by a host of family, friends, and supporters. They created a different narrative for him than the one the rest of the world had succeeded in imposing on his cousin. In short, they created the conditions in which Patrick could not only survive but thrive. Far too much of the literature on leadership tells the story of heroic individuals creating their success by their own efforts. Such stories fail to recognize the structural obstacles to thriving faced by those in marginalized communities. If young people in these communities are to grow up to lives of purpose, others must help create the conditions to make that happen. Pastors, organizational leaders, educators, family, and friends must all perceive their calling to create new stories and new conditions of thriving for those most marginalized. This book offers both inspiration and practical guidance for how to do that. It offers advice on creating safe space for failure, nurturing networks that support young people of color, and professional guidance for how to implement these strategies in one's congregation, school, or community organization.
How can we get beyond our emotions when we are so hurt we can feel it in the deepest part of our stomach? We are so programmed to feel everything we choose. When we don't feel our choices, are they still genuine? Will God honor something we choose by faith, but don't really feel? How is it possible to go against the tide and choose to follow God when everything within us is screaming to do just the opposite?
Advaita and nondual teachings are about finding the Truth. This Truth is not a dogma that you study; it is the Truth about life †the Truth about who you really are. This Truth is discovered, not learned. It is discovered through sincerely inquiring, Who am I? What you discover is that who you are has nothing to do with self-images or roles and everything to do with what you experience when you ask this question. What you discover is that who you think of yourself as is just that †a thought! And beyond that thought is a great Mystery †an experience of nothingness, which is your true nature.Nothing Personal leads you to the experience of your true nature and helps you explore its depth. Through exposition, questions and dialogues, it brings you to a place of realization of the Truth: you are that spacious Awareness in which everything appears, including your thoughts and feelings. Your thoughts and feelings do not define you but merely appear within Consciousness along with everything else. This Consciousness is who you are.Nothing Personal offers a gentle and persistent guide to seeing the underlying truth of your ultimate nature. In this concisely edited collection of satsang talks and dialogues, you are invited to honor the limitless love that is your true nature and to enjoy the sweet richness that is revealed when you give this Truth your undivided attention.From the introduction:Unlike most books, this one is not meant to add to your knowledge or understanding. It is about the Truth that cannot be spoken or written. Although the Truth cannot be contained in this or any other book, each word written here is intended to point you toward that Truth. Many of the words and ideas may seem paradoxical or contradictory because what they point to is larger than our conceptual frameworks. Many questions are asked, which are not answered anywhere in the book. Find out what the experience is like to ask yourself these questions, even if they leave you emptier of knowledge and understanding. In this emptying, you just may discover what you are looking for.The Truth is revealed when we allow ourselves to not know, so I invite you to set aside all that you know for the time being and allow yourself to look with innocent eyes at what the words are attempting to unveil. Take the time to experience the unspoken truth in each section before moving on to the next. Resist the temptation to read these words with your mind, which is likely to rush right past the Truth. Allow the words to sink into your heart and reveal the truth of who you are.
