Her eyes shut, and her hand went limp in mine. She was gone. I looked at the place to which her eyes had been directed but could see nothing. Tears ran down my cheeks as I stood there in the quiet, dimly lit room. Then I realized I was standing on hallowed ground because the Lord had just been in the room. I wanted so badly for her to open her eyes one more time and tell me what he looked like, but she was gone. She was now healed and at the right hand of the Lord in heaven. I kissed her on the cheek and whispered goodbye. Then for the first time, I thanked God for this job. I finally understood what my purpose was. I had just walked my first patient to the edge of heaven and handed her off to the Lord. I did not know it at the time, but God had only just begun to show me what he wanted me to learn from this journey.
An account of the explorer, Benedict Allen's journey through Siberia and the remote landscape of Mongolia, and across the Gobi Desert to the border with China. The book ties in with the broadcast of a series of six documentaries following the journey on BBC2 in Autumn 1998.
Montana truly is heavenly. Especially a certain handsome rancher. Her parents want a clout wielding attorney, safely enthroned in an appropriately high end Mercedes sedan and a tailored business suit. She just wants to teach kindergarten. When her "all-powerful" parents actually choose her future husband, who just happens to be a divorce lawyer named Elroy, Charlie opts out and heads for Big Sky Country. After all, who marries a divorce lawyer? She and her best friend Fo, who have been buddies since the third grade, go to work on his cousin's sprawling ranch in the heart of the Montana Rockies. Filled with colorful characters of all shapes, sizes and species, including an orphaned baby pig, most of the Langston family put the fun in dysfunctional, -give or take a couple of black sheep. There's one in every family, isn't there? Add to that glorious scenery, a horse of her own, and one extremely attractive cousin rancher, Luke Langston, and it makes for a summer never to be forgotten. Which might not be a good thing. She has the time of her life, but her heart may never recover. Once again, Jaclyn M. Hawkes spins a tale filled with a deft mix of humor, romance, and tension that will leave you wishing that she'd kept on writing.
Poet and literature professor Scott Cairns ran headlong into his midlife crisis — a fairly common experience among men nearing the age of fifty—while walking on the beach with his Labrador. His was not a desperate attempt to recapture youth, filled with sports cars and younger women. Instead, Cairns realized his spiritual life was advancing at a snail's pace and time was running out. Midlife crisis for this this Baptist turned Eastern Orthodox manifested as a desperate need to seek out prayer. Originally published in 2007, this new, expanded edition of Short Trip to the Edge is the story of Scott's spiritual journey to the mystical island of Mt. Athos. With twenty monasteries and thirteen sketes scattered across its sloping terrain, the Holy Mountain was the perfect place for Scott to seek out a prayer father and discover the stillness of the true prayer life. Told with wit and exquisite prose, his narrative takes the reader from a beach in Virginia to the most holy Orthodox monasteries in the world to a monastery in Arizona and back again as Scott struggles to find his prayer path. Along the way, Cairns forged relationships with monks, priests, and fellow pilgrims. "Scott Cairns is not only one of the most vital poets of our time but also a prose writer of uncommon vision, and in Short Trip to the Edge, his account of his pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain of Athos, in northern Greece, he weaves together a personal history of faith, a wealth of learning, and the wisdom of the ages to create a book for spiritual seekers from every religious denomination. What better guide, and travel companion, than Scott Cairns? I would follow him to the edge – and beyond." — Christopher Merrill, author of Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain "Mt Athos is 'the edge' in more ways than one, a place both beautiful and ruggedly challenging, alive with spiritual power that shares the same qualities. Cairns is the ideal guide — relaxed, invitingly conversational, and often amused, but always evoking the awe that these mysteries deserve." — Frederica Mathewes-Green "In Short Trip To The Edge, Scott Cairns pulls back the curtain and gives us a glimpse of the spiritual energy present on the Holy Mountain. He approaches his prose with the soul and skill of a poet. It is at once simple and profound—accessible and ineffable. Scott has the boldness to confront the deepest parts of our human nature with fierce honesty and humor. It's a place where "pilgrims are a mixed bag," holy relics make the heart race and true spirituality is an "acquired taste." The reader, (or should I say pilgrim) is invited to travel along a beautiful and potentially frightening road into the heart of silence, repentance and prayer. There is a palpable sense of being there: surrounded by a timeless chorus of voices chanting on The Holy Mountain, praying for the life of the world. One slowly loses the desire to arrive and begins to embrace the possibility of "always becoming." Scott Cairns pours out his soul in this brilliant and much needed book. It is well worth the taking this short trip to the edge!" —Jonathan Jackson, star of the hit ABC show Nashville and author of The Mystery Of Art "A Short Trip to the Edge is an exceptional and compelling book. Scott Cairns has a poet's eye and a story-tellers flair, so that mystical experience and profound theology are bodied forth in memorable images and vivid scenes, instead of being lost in abstraction. This book witnesses to the way ancient truths can become vivid, true and life-changing in the here and now. This is a short trip you will never forget." —Rev. Dr. Malcolm Guite, Girton College, Cambridge
With the confession of several years of secrets, Daffy Gustavs life changed forever. As he leads others down an emotional path lined with heartfelt poems that detail the disbelief, pain, frustrations, and eventual healing that followed his divorce and estrangement from his children, Gustav shines a light on the unfortunate effects of heartache. Gustav, who one day came home from work and discovered an empty house, shares poetry that provide a realistic glimpse into what it is really like to experience the breakup of a marriage, to lose your children, to endure monumental financial challenges, to survive betrayal from other family members, to grapple with a variety of emotions that accompany such a life-shattering chain of events, and finally, to be guided to change. Through it all, Gustav provides inspiration to others that it is indeed possible to find hope, inner-peace, and love after suffering a personal tragedy. From Hell to Heaven, One Mans Journey shares introspective reflections from an honest man as he learns to survive lifes greatest heartaches and transform his anger into understanding love.
Imagine getting a glimpse of heaven, a preview of life in God's presence. Could life here ever be the same? Capt. Dale Black has flown as a commercial pilot all over the world, but one flight changed his life forever--an amazing journey to heaven and back. The only survivor of a horrific plane crash, Dale was hovering between life and death when he had a wondrous experience of heaven. What he saw, what he heard, and what he learned there continues to ripple through his life and touch others. Against all odds, Dale miraculously recovered from his injuries and learned to fly again. Now, with his life as a testament, he shares his inspiring story--offering hope and encouragement for those dealing with serious injuries or the loss of a loved one, and those looking for assurance about this life and the next. Experience a Life-Changing Vision of Heaven
To have Billy Connolly as a personal tour guide through some of the world's most dramatic landscapes in the vast wilderness of the Arctic is to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience only he can offer. In his own quintessential way, this much-loved Scottish comedian, actor, musician and self-proclaimed 'citizen of the world' takes us zig-zagging from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean via Newfoundland, Canada, the Yukon and the Northwest Passage in an epic adventure only recently made possible through global warming. With his infectious enthusiasm and idiosyncratic humour, Billy goes searching for the beauty of ordinariness and bumps into all manner of weird and wonderful people along the way. He learns how to be a bear whisperer, pans for gold with prospectors, learns how to square dance, kayaks through ice floes between fishing trips, runs bare-assed into a sweat lodge, and attempts the finer complexities of the Inuit language. He jams with fiddlers, kisses a cod, goes hunting for Big Foot, and invokes the spirit of the ancients while iceberg-harvesting. With as many laugh-out-loud moments as they are poignant ones, Journey to the Edge of the World is more than just an informative and entertaining travel guide - it is time spent exclusively in the company of an irascible national treasure.
It's obvious from the bookshelves and the big screen that heaven is on everyone's mind. All of us long to know what life after death will be like. Bestselling author John Burke is no exception. For decades, he has been studying accounts of people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs). While not every detail of individual NDEs correlate with Scripture, Burke shows how the common experiences shared by thousands of survivors clearly point to the God of the Bible and the exhilarating picture of heaven he promises. Imagine Heaven is an inspirational journey through the Bible's picture of heaven, colored in with the real-life stories of heaven's wonders. Burke compares gripping stories of NDEs to what Scripture says about our biggest questions of heaven: Will I be myself? Will I see friends and loved ones? What will it look like? What is God like? What will we do forever? What about children and pets? This book will propel readers into an experience that will forever change their view of the life to come and the way they live life today. It also tackles the tough questions of heavenly reward and hellish NDEs. Anyone interested in NDEs or longing to imagine heaven more clearly will enjoy this fascinating and hope-filled book.
What would you do if your sister were brutally murdered and her body never found? No doubt you would do all you could to find her body, but would you also expect to have a transforming experience about the power of love? In late June 1980, eighteen-year-old Gina Renee Hall disappeared. She made one last phone call to her sister Dlana the night she disappeared, saying she was looking at a lake, and spoke one last word--- Steve. Gina Hall did not come home.The composed story from her killer and his friend led the authorities to theorize that “Steve” had convinced her to leave the place where she had been dancing and go to the lake house to be with him. Those who knew Gina never accepted that story. In the aftermath of her murder,
