Is morality based on some essential truth or is it defined by society? In this highly original critique of American social mores and popular culture, David Klinghoffer argues that the Ten Commandments are essential to maintaining a morally healthy society. With the meticulousness of a scholar, he begins by excavating the meaning of the Commandments. Drawing on the millennia-old rabbinical work Mechilta, he explains that the Decalogue was written on two tablets to show that when a country neglects the Commandments written on the first tablet—those having to do with the relationship between God and people—the interpersonal relationships described on the second tablet suffer irreparable damage as well. Addressing such timely topics as the controversy over public displays of the Commandments and the battles over intelligent design, Klinghoffer demonstrates that Christians and Jews are united in their opposition to the pagan aspects of our culture. In the tradition of Hebrew prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah, he describes our failings with humor and compassion but also with anger and disappointment. An unusual, incisive perspective on the role of religion in society, Shattered Tablets is sure to spark debate. In the end Klinghoffer argues that by shrugging off the Bible as a guide and turning toward secularism, America has created a crude, cruel, and dishonest national life.
Experience this gripping true story of a Japanese American family’s transformation from brokenness to wholeness in the face of tragedy. The inspirational account of a Japanese-American family’s triumph after grappling with the death of their three children—two from AIDS and a third the victim of a tragic drive-by shooting—Honor Thy Children chronicles the creation, devastation, and remarkable resurrection of the Nakatanis, who journey from unimaginable grief to healing. Praise for Honor Thy Children “This is a story that will break your heart and make it whole again. It will bring you into a realm of humanness and compassion you didn’t know you had. It might even set you free to love in ways you’ve never loved before.” —Sister Helen Prejean, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Dead Man Walking “I have never read such a powerful story about a Japanese American family like this before. It relates a universal message of the deep love the Nakatanis have for their children which transcended alienation and despair.... It is the Nakatanis enduring legacy of love and hope to the world.” —Ford H. Kuramoto, national director, National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse
We are all children of someone, we ought to pursue God's blessings, and we need to give prominence to God's prominent command. Thus, we can no longer ignore the forgotten Fifth Commandment: Honor your father and mother. In the home, church, and workplace, it provides a stable foundation for society, and we fail to appreciate its relevance.
In these pages, author and caregiver Sheree May shares both the joys and struggles of caring for a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer's. May stumbled upon an inspirational place called Celebrate Recovery. There she found the value in taking all her troubles to God. Afterward, she was led from a place of pain through a world of pandemic to a place of healing. There, May discovered her independence and self-worth. She could now give her mother the attention and care that she needed. May knew her mother more than anyone else besides God, which gave her the ability to retrieve a lifetime of memories the two of them had made. Their close relationship enabled her to turn "the long goodbye" into a million fifteen-minute reruns of joy! Here you will explore all the magic a caregiver can give through the grace of God!
Four English sisters share a terrible family secret in this novel from “the suspense writers’ suspense writer” and author of Trick or Treat (Harper’s Bazaar). Winner of the Somerset Maugham and Betty Trask Awards In a decaying house along the marshy Fenlands of Eastern England, four sisters—Milly, Agatha, and identical, inseparable twins Ellen and Esther—have lived in self-imposed isolation for more than sixty years. Like good sisters, they bicker, go about their daily routines, and believe the bright myth they’ve created about their childhood. Sometimes Milly can recall a blessedly unexceptional youth of ordinary days, domestic tranquility, and young love. But what came after is so much more consuming, and so much harder to forget. So are the questions no one dares to answer out loud . . . Why does Milly still count the knives? What was the corruption their father warned them about? Was their mother really swallowed up by the roaring river? And why does no one sing to Baby George anymore, who’s locked away in the cellar? As a ceaseless rain lashes away at the house, the sisters prepare for a coming storm. With it comes the threat of steadily rising waters that will give up the secrets still holding them in thrall. “A fairytale gone gruesomely wrong”, Lesley Glaister’s debut novel was the recipient of the Somerset Maugham Award, for which she joined the likes of Angela Carter, Doris Lessing, Sarah Waters, and Ian McEwan (The Literary Review). An “eerily tragic and mesmerizing first novel” (Publishers Weekly), Honour Thy Father is “a true original” (The Sunday Times).