On December 13, 2007, in the small town of Lake Wales, Florida, Leon Davis Jr. walked into an insurance agency with a gun, duct tape, and gasoline. He demanded money, wrapped two women in tape, doused them with fuel, and flicked a lighter. In what is considered part of the worst killing rampage in Polk County history, Resolve, Courage, Hope tells the true story of how Scott Headley picked up the pieces after a longtime client deliberately and viciously killed two of his employees, the aftershock of Davis's murderous rampage, court trials, night terrors, and regaining his sense of self.
Learn how to face and overcome the fears we feel about loneliness, illness, financial insecurity, disappointing others, failure, insignificance, and aging “A thoughtful, literate, faith-filled guide to reclaiming our minds and our lives.”—John Ortberg, senior pastor of Menlo Church and author of I’d Like You More If You Were More Like Me You’d be hard-pressed to overstate the extent to which fear, anxiety, and worry permeate our lives today. Fear wreaks havoc on our relationships and communities. It leads us into making bad decisions. It holds us back from the very pursuits that promise fulfillment and joy. As the senior pastor of a large, diverse church in America’s heartland, Adam Hamilton has seen the cost of fear up close. When he surveyed his congregation on how fear affects them, 2,400 people responded—and what they said was eye-opening. Eighty percent admitted to living with moderate or significant levels of fear. Unafraid is Hamilton's insightful and impassioned response. Drawing on recent research, inspiring real-life examples, and fresh biblical insight, Hamilton uses a mixture of facts and faith to help readers understand and counter fears related to such outsize perils as death and illness, as well as the everyday anxieties all of us encounter. He invites us to: Face our fears with a bias of hope Examine our fears in light of the facts Attack our anxieties with action Release our cares to God Writing with generosity and intelligence, Hamilton shows how believer and unbeliever alike can develop sustaining spiritual practices and embrace Jesus’s recurring counsel: “Do not be afraid.” For anyone struggling with fear or wondering how families and communities can thrive in troubled times, Unafraid offers an informed and inspiring message full of practical solutions.
As the risks of the climate crisis continue to grow, so too do the challenges of facing a harsh climate future with honesty and courage; justice and compassion; meaning and purpose. Hope and Courage in the Climate Crisis explores diverse sources of learning and wisdom –from climate scientists and activists; philosophers and social theorists; Indigenous cultures and ways of life; faith based and spiritual traditions; artists and writers –which can help us live courageous, compassionate and creative lives in a world of rapidly accelerating climatic and ecological risk. Accelerating the transition to a just and resilient zero-carbon society will require visionary leadership and courageous collective action. Awareness that rapid action might still be insufficient to prevent severe and irreversible social and ecological damage is however a source of deep concern for many people passionately committed to decisive climate action. Drawing on broad experience as a climate activist, researcher and policy maker John Wiseman provides a wide ranging, accessible and provocative guided tour of ideas which can inspire and sustain radical hope and defiant courage in the long emergency which now lies before us.
In the summer of 2010, Shirley Sherrod was catapulted into a media storm that blew apart her life and her job doing what she'd done for decades: helping poor, hardworking people live the American dream. She was a lifelong activist who served as Georgia's first black director of rural development. A right-wing blogger, the now late Andrew Breitbart, disseminated a video clip of a speech Sherrod had given to the Georgia NAACP, intending to make her an example of "reverse racism." The right-wing media ramped up the outrage, and before Sherrod had a chance to defend herself, the Obama administration demanded her resignation. Then, after hearing from Sherrod herself and learning the entire truth of what she said in that speech, the administration tried to backtrack. As public officials and media professionals admitted to being duped and apologized for their rush to judgment, Sherrod found herself the subject of a teachable moment. The Courage to Hope addresses this regret-table episode in American politics, but it also tells Sherrod's own story of growing up on a farm in southwest Georgia during the final violent years of Jim Crow. As a child she dreamed of leaving the South, but when her father was murdered by a white neighbor who was never brought to justice, Sherrod made a vow to stay in Georgia and commit herself to the cause of truth and racial healing. With her husband, Charles, a legend in the civil rights movement, she has devoted her life to empowering poor people and rural communities--Americans who are most in need. The incident that brought Sherrod into the spotlight does not define her life and work, but it strengthens her commitment to stand against the politics of fear and have the courage to hope.
Adeeply personal account of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' and astronaut Mark Kelly's lives together, recounting their courtship, Ms Giffords' rise in politics, and the tragic 8th January 2011 shooting in Arizona which killed six people and gravely wounded Representative Gifford and twelve others. The book also tells the story of her recovery progress and traces Kelly's career from decorated Desert Storm combat pilot to his recent mission as the commander of Space Shuttle Endeavour's final flight.
In this unique collaboration, the most prized and esteemed scholars in theology, religious history, and sociology offer a new understanding of American spiritual life by placing African-American religious experience at its center. Moving from specific cases in African-American history and theology to discussions of how African-American experiences can and should inform all studies of American life, they uncover the spiritual human soul that unites all of us. The editors call this project a "testament of hope," and it is a powerful tribute to the late James M. Washington, whose works were an inspirational search for universality. Contributors include James H. Cone, David D. Daniels III, Walter E. Fluker, Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, E. Lee Hancock, Dale T. Irvin, Carolyn Ann Knight, Charles H. Long, Sandy Dwayne Martin, Genna Rae McNeil, Richard Newman, Albert J. Raboteau, Gary V. Simpson, Mark V.C. Taylor, Judith Weisenfeld, and Lucas Wilson.
Darkness will not last forever. Together we can climb toward the light. They were as troubled as we, our ancestors, those who came before us, and all for the very same reasons: fear of illness, a broken heart, fights in the family, the threat of another war. Corrupt politicians walked their stage, and natural disasters appeared without warning. And yet they came through, carrying us within them, through the grief and struggle, through the personal pain and the public chaos, finding their way with love and faith, not giving in to despair but walking upright until their last step was taken. My culture does not honor the ancestors as a quaint spirituality of the past but as a living source of strength for the present. They did it and so will we. In the same voice that has comforted and challenged countless readers through his daily social media posts, Choctaw elder and Episcopal priest Steven Charleston offers words of hard-won hope, rooted in daily conversations with the Spirit and steeped in Indigenous wisdom. Every day Charleston spends time in prayer. Every day he writes down what he hears from the Spirit. In Ladder to the Light he shares what he has heard with the rest of us and adds thoughtful reflection to help guide us to the light Native America knows something about cultivating resilience and resisting darkness. For all who yearn for hope, Ladder to the Light is a book of comfort, truth, and challenge in a time of anguish and fear.
Presents the story of Plenty Coups, the last great Chief of the Crow Nation. This title contains a philosophical and ethical inquiry into a people faced with the end of their way of life.
In Stronger, the widow of Senator John McCain opens up about her beloved husband, their thirty-eight-year marriage, and the trials and triumphs of a singular American life. “At once a love letter to her late husband . . . and an indictment of the party-line politics he fought against . . . This is the Cindy McCain we suspected was at his side for so many years.”—Time Cindy Hensley was just out of college when she met and fell in love with the celebrated Navy hero John McCain. They embarked on a thrilling life together that put her at the center of American politics for over four decades. Stronger, her moving and inspiring memoir, tells the story of her adventurous life with John for the first time. Raising their four children in Arizona while John flourished as a six-term senator in Washington, D.C., Cindy McCain brought her own flair to the role of political wife. She eagerly supported John’s career even as she tried hard to stay out of the spotlight and maintain her own health and well-being. In Stronger, she is honest in revealing her own successes and missteps, discussing how she dealt with political attacks targeting her children, her battle with opioid addiction, and the wild whirl of campaigning for president. As they built their life together, Cindy and John continued the multi-generation McCain tradition of service to country. With both immense pride and deep worry, she sent two sons off to active duty in the military. She describes her own brave efforts bringing medical support to countries in crisis and empowering women in Africa and around the world. And she reveals her feelings about the tumultuous effects of the Trump presidency on the military. Most important, this book shares how John’s humor and strength helped Cindy grow into the confident woman she is now. More than a political story, Stronger is the unforgettable journey of one woman who believes in family, honor, and country—and is willing to stand up for all of them.
