From a born storyteller (Seattle Times), this playful and moving bestselling book of essays invites us into the miraculous and transcendent moments of everyday life.

When Brian Doyle passed away at the age of sixty after a bout with brain cancer, he left behind a cult-like following of devoted readers who regard his writing as one of the best-kept secrets of the twenty-first century. Doyle writes with a delightful sense of wonder about the sanctity of everyday things, and about love and connection in all their forms: spiritual love, brotherly love, romantic love, and even the love of a nine-foot sturgeon.

At a moment when the world can sometimes feel darker than ever, Doyle's writing, which constantly evokes the humor and even bliss that life affords, is a balm. His essays manage to find, again and again, exquisite beauty in the quotidian, whether it's the awe of a child the first time she hears a river, or a husband's whiskers that a grieving widow misses seeing in her sink every morning. Through Doyle's eyes, nothing is dull.

David James Duncan sums up Doyle's sensibilities best in his introduction to the collection: Brian Doyle lived the pleasure of bearing daily witness to quiet glories hidden in people, places and creatures of little or no size, renown, or commercial value, and he brought inimitably playful or soaring or aching or heartfelt language to his tellings. A life's work, One Long River of Song invites readers to experience joy and wonder in ordinary moments that become, under Doyle's rapturous and exuberant gaze, extraordinary.

Have you experienced an Angel Bump? A sign could come from the sudden appearance of a butterfly, finding a coin or a feather, hearing a memorable song, having a vivid dream, or feeling the presence of a departed loved one. The tender stories in this collection will console anyone who is grieving the loss of a loved one. Each author shares a sign from Heaven that reassured them their loved one is still near in spirit. While people die, love is eternal. An Angel Bump is like a luminous light in a dark room. Once you receive a sign from your loved one, you will never be the same. Knowing they are still so close will give you solace. The joy it brings is immeasurable. Some Angel Bumps will make you smile. Others may bring tears to your eyes. One thing is for sure. You will feel loved. After reading Angel Bumps, you might want to keep your eyes open. Be aware. An angel bump can come when you least expect it. Don't miss your very own, sweet, Angel Bump and a hello from Heaven.

'A crucial and compelling read' NATALIE COLLINS @GodLovesWomen

'The story of Josephine Butler is astonishing, shocking, inspiring, recounted here by a narrator who understands the very core of her subject. A powerful read.' CLAIRE GILBERT, author of I, Julian

'When Courage Calls allows us to hear Butler's message afresh at a time when women's value and safety is again at risk.' ALISON MILBANK, Professor of Literature and Theology, University of Nottingham

'This is an inspiring book written by an inspiring writer' RACHAEL TREWEEK, Bishop of Gloucester

Millicent Fawcett, the leader of the British suffragist movement, described Josephine Butler as 'the most distinguished English woman of the nineteenth century'. Among the first feminist activists, Butler raised public awareness of the plight of destitute women, worked to address human trafficking and led a vigorous campaign to secure equal rights for women before the law. In her pursuit of justice, Butler did as much for women as William Wilberforce did for African slaves within the British Empire, and yet, while Wilberforce remains a household name, Butler is forgotten.

Social historian Sarah C. Williams presents a re-examined biography of the radical political activist Josephine Butler. From the beauty of her childhood in Northumbria, to the stifling intellectual environment of mid-Victorian Oxford; from the impoverished streets of Liverpool and the brothels of London, Brussels and Paris, to the offices of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. Butler's relentless drive to secure rights for women against the sexual double standard of her day captures a remarkable woman with deeply held values for equality.

Underpinning Butler's public life of political activism lies the full corpus of her writing and the spirituality that grounded her activism. When Courage Calls offers a profound examination of Butler's inner life of prayer, defined by her radical sense of justice that was able to transform Victorian society.
Such conviction offers us a taste of the possibility for our time and culture.

This biography presents a fresh interpretation of the relationship between Josephine Butler's public leadership, her political activism and her spirituality.

From the award-winning author of On Fragile Waves comes an inspirational, surprising guide to creation and creativity, and how both bring us closer to God.

Centuries ago, sound theology and good fiction were friends and not strangers. Decades ago, authors strove not for self-expression and self-disclosure but for a mastery of craft and language and books that transformed the reader with wisdom and love. In more recent years, the old ideals have been exchanged for lesser ones.

Few guides to writing, which tend to focus on mechanics, point of view, and plot, address the more important matters of meaning, depth, and heart. But it is the latter qualities that make a book a blessing and gift to both writer and reader. Like Christ's invitation to follow, they demand a risk and sacrifice of the self and all it holds dear. Writers from George MacDonald to James Baldwin understood this, but in recent years this understanding has been lost. Making old things new, this book proposes an ethics of reading, writing, and living based on truth and love.

Break, Blow, Burn, & Make returns the literary conversation to the practices of co-creation with God. Part bugle call, part compass for writing and for life, and part love song to the books that set us on fire, it offers those who are willing to receive it the courage to live, read, and write more deeply and honestly.

A powerful and emotional story. Alyson Sheldrake, Bestselling author of Kat the Dog

#1 International Bestseller and 8x Literary Award Winner

In his debut memoir, Kerk shares his emotional journey, paying tribute to the animals that touch our lives and the compassion that drives us forward. It's a story of love, loss, and the courage to start anew. Through poignant and evocative writing, he recalls the defining moments with the animals of his past and present, and the hope that lies beyond the pain. His story is a reminder of the possibilities living within us all.

Pawprints On Our Hearts is heartfelt and inspiring memoir that will strike a chord with animal lovers and stay with you long after the final page.

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⭐2022 Royal Dragonfly 4x Book Award winner

⭐2022 The BookFest 3x Award Winner

⭐2022 Reader's Favorite Book Award Winner

⭐2022 Reader's Choice Book Award Finalist

As the generations rise and fall, the wars of the past are surpassed by the wars of the present age, prosperity and poverty diverge in new ways, and new technology remakes the world in ways Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ken Patton, Olympia Brown, or Francis Watkins Harper could hardly have comprehended. New words of love and truth, new memorable phrases, new encouragements are in order. Assumptions, sometimes unconsciously made in previous eras, have been challenged and rethought. Contemporary voices in this new century still revere both love and truth and find ways in worship of moving out of the familiar and into new territory. Styles of imagery and poetry that might have startled our ancestors encourage us to live out lives of depth.--Mark Belletini, from the PrefaceMore than 250 readings are collected here to reinvigorate and update Unitarian Universalist worship. Just as Singing the Journey supplemented the hymns in Singing the Living Tradition with more diversity in perspectives and styles, Lifting Our Voices supplements the SLT readings with modern voices from an array of cultures and theological perspectives. Chosen with care by Revs. Mark Belletini, Kendyl Gibbons, Angela Herrera, Abhi Janamanchi, and Hope Johnson, these new readings, from Unitarian Universalists and acclaimed authors and poets are sure to become instant classics.

Inspired by their popular Channel 4 documentary Jesus' Female Disciples, historians Helen Bond and Joan Taylor explore the way in which Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Martha and a whole host of other women - named and unnamed - have been remembered by posterity, noting how many were silenced, tamed or slurred by innuendo - though occasionally they get to slay dragons. Women Remembered looks at the representation of these women in art, and the way they have been remembered in inscriptions and archaeology. And of course they dig into the biblical texts, exposing misogyny and offering alternative and unexpected ways of appreciating these women as disciples, apostles, teachers, messengers and church-founders.

At a time when both the church and society more widely are still grappling with the full inclusion and equality of women, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical and cultural origins of Christianity.

From a born storyteller (Seattle Times), this playful and moving bestselling book of essays invites us into the miraculous and transcendent moments of everyday life.

When Brian Doyle passed away at the age of sixty after a bout with brain cancer, he left behind a cult-like following of devoted readers who regard his writing as one of the best-kept secrets of the twenty-first century. Doyle writes with a delightful sense of wonder about the sanctity of everyday things, and about love and connection in all their forms: spiritual love, brotherly love, romantic love, and even the love of a nine-foot sturgeon.

At a moment when the world can sometimes feel darker than ever, Doyle's writing, which constantly evokes the humor and even bliss that life affords, is a balm. His essays manage to find, again and again, exquisite beauty in the quotidian, whether it's the awe of a child the first time she hears a river, or a husband's whiskers that a grieving widow misses seeing in her sink every morning. Through Doyle's eyes, nothing is dull.

David James Duncan sums up Doyle's sensibilities best in his introduction to the collection: Brian Doyle lived the pleasure of bearing daily witness to quiet glories hidden in people, places and creatures of little or no size, renown, or commercial value, and he brought inimitably playful or soaring or aching or heartfelt language to his tellings. A life's work, One Long River of Song invites readers to experience joy and wonder in ordinary moments that become, under Doyle's rapturous and exuberant gaze, extraordinary.

From popes to television personalities to high school students, everyone who encountered Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete knew there was no one like him. He could engage you with a joke about a New Yorker cartoon, move on to a keen commentary on the state of the culture, and finish off with a meditation on the Gospel of John. In his talks and essays, Albacete made profound theological and philosophical insights accessible without ever losing their depth and breadth.

But with the exception of a single book published in his lifetime, much of Albacete's wisdom has been scattered and hard to find. The Relevance of the Stars fills this vacuum. With his characteristic wit and ease, Albacete engages the thorniest questions-the relation of faith and reason, the problem of modernity, the possibility of a Christian culture-as they play out in science and politics, money and love, law and finance. He speaks to families, youth, and his friends in the media.

The New Yorker cartoons feature here, of course, alongside Dostoevsky, Flannery O'Connor, and Elie Wiesel. Albacete masterfully engages the thought of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Father Luigi Giussani, the founder of the international lay movement Communion and Liberation, whose passion for the infinite Albacete made his own.

A moving meditation on memory, oblivion, and eternity by one of our most celebrated poets

What is it we want when we can't stop wanting? And how do we make that hunger productive and vital rather than corrosive and destructive? These are the questions that animate Christian Wiman as he explores the relationships between art and faith, death and fame, heaven and oblivion. Above all, He Held Radical Light is a love letter to poetry, filled with moving, surprising, and sometimes funny encounters with the poets Wiman has known. Seamus Heaney opens a suddenly intimate conversation about faith; Mary Oliver puts half of a dead pigeon in her pocket; A. R. Ammons stands up in front of an audience and refuses to read. He Held Radical Light is as urgent and intense as it is lively and entertaining--a sharp sequel to Wiman's earlier memoir, My Bright Abyss.

I am a Jew because I believe that Judaism understands that between mercy and justice there is a path of righteousness. I am a Jew because I believe the saving of a life is an urgent mitzvah. I am a Jew because I believe Judaism believes that education is an urgent mitzvah. I am a Jew because Judaism rejects the belief that it is superior to other traditions and makes its claim on me only because it is already mine. I am a Jew because in Judaism all of God's children are equally God's children and every life is sacred. I am a Jew because Judaism believes that existence is not an accident and has meaning. I am a Jew because Judaism recognizes holiness in everything beautiful, kind, and just in this world. I am a Jew because Judaism is my spiritual home, and from my home, I can share in the beauty and delights of all creation. I am a Jew because Judaism believes in personal responsibility, forgiveness, and hope. I am a Jew because Judaism values my humanity above my ethnicity and enables me to become a better person by becoming a better Jew. I am a Jew because Judaism recognizes that the world is not complete and that all of us have deep responsibilities in completing it and thereby complete ourselves as human beings and as Jews. - Rabbi Lance J. Sussman, Ph.D.

Twenty-one timely, affecting essays by those who survived hardline, authoritarian religious ideology and uprooted themselves from the reality-averse churches that ultimately failed to contain their spirits.

Winner of the 2019 Eos Award.

In this necessary and revealing anthology, Chrissy Stroop and Lauren O'Neal collect original and previously published pieces about leaving Christianity. Examining the intersections of queerness, spiritual abuse, loss of faith, and the courage needed to leave one's religious community, these two social critics use a diverse collection of personal essays by apostates and survivors of religious trauma to boldly address the individual experiences and systemic dysfunction so common in conservative churches.

Following the 2016 election of President Trump, Stroop coined the hashtag #EmptyThePews on Twitter as a call to take a moral stance against the kind of fundamentalist, authoritarian, or otherwise conservative churches that helped bring about the current political situation and all its cruelty, division, and hate. The hashtag continues to circulate with the eye-opening and often heartbreaking stories of those who found the resolve to leave evangelical, Mormon, Catholic, and other religious communities. Empty the Pews continues this campaign by sharing the unflinchingly honest stories of those who escaped hardline religious ideology--and how it failed to crush their spirits.

Contributions include essays from a diverse group of established and up-and-coming writers, including Garrard Conley, Lyz Lenz, Juliana Delgado Lopera, Carmen Maria Machado, Isaac Marion, Maud Newton, Julia Scheeres, Linda Tirado, and more, as well as a foreword by Frank Schaeffer, the former Christian Right leader turned trenchant critic.

A provocative anthology of undeniable importance and power, Empty the Pews reflects upon the disoriented worldview of harmful, narrow-minded religious ideologies and also offers a clear call to action: to those who refuse to be complicit in the bigotry and abuse present in so many churches, now is the time to empty the pews.

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) was a Dutch humanist, scholar, and social critic, and one of the most important figures of the Renaissance. The Praise of Folly is perhaps his best-known work. Originally written to amuse his friend Sir Thomas More, this satiric celebration of pleasure, youth, and intoxication irreverently pokes fun at the pieties of theologians and the foibles that make us all human, while ultimately reaffirming the value of Christian ideals. No other book displays quite so completely the transition from the medieval to the modern world, and Erasmus's wit, wisdom, and critical spirit have lost none of their timeliness today.

This Princeton Classics edition of The Praise of Folly features a new foreword by Anthony Grafton that provides an essential introduction to this iridescent and enduring masterpiece.

Sometimes I wish my minister would read his column instead of the sermon

That's the kind of response Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto draws from devoted readers of his faith column. Although best known as an award-winning sportswriter, Pluto has also earned a reputation--and a growing audience--for his down-to-earth musings on more spiritual subjects.

This followup to his first collection, Everyday Faith, offers 28 all-new thoughtful essays on faith in everyday life--practical topics such as choosing a church, lending money to friends, dealing with jerks, sharing your faith, visiting the sick, even planning a funeral.

Perhaps it's because Pluto doesn't claim to have the answers that so many readers are drawn to his writing.

Real faith writing should be about real life, Pluto says. I write as much about my failures as my triumphs, because that is what a life of faith is about. It's often as much suffering as celebration, with lots of mundane, everyday stuff in between. I write for people who may have been hurt by someone in church, people who have been discouraged by one who claimed to speak for God ... I write for people who have found contentment in their faith but want a deeper relationship with God.

Gold Nautilus Book Award Winner

Leading African American Buddhist teachers offer lessons on racism, resilience, spiritual freedom, and the possibility of a truly representative American Buddhism. With contributions by Acharya Gaylon Ferguson, Cheryl A. Giles, Gyōzan Royce Andrew Johnson, Ruth King, Kamilah Majied, Lama Rod Owens, Lama Dawa Tarchin Phillips, Sebene Selassie, and Pamela Ayo Yetunde.

What does it mean to be Black and Buddhist? In this powerful collection of writings, African American teachers from all the major Buddhist traditions tell their stories of how race and Buddhist practice have intersected in their lives. The resulting explorations display not only the promise of Buddhist teachings to empower those facing racial discrimination but also the way that Black Buddhist voices are enriching the Dharma for all practitioners. As the first anthology comprised solely of writings by African-descended Buddhist practitioners, this book is an important contribution to the development of the Dharma in the West.

For over fifty years, L'Engle has been delighting and inspiring readers with her warm, eloquent prose, and inspirational poetry. She continues this tradition with Bright Evening Star, a personal reflection of the mystery and majesty of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Bright Evening Star provides a glimpse into the life stories of this prolific author and her encounters with God. With a foreword by John Tesh, L'Engle invites us on a spiritual adventure that leads to hope, joy, and a closer relationship with Jesus. Christmas, says Madeleine L'Engle, should be a time of awed silence. If you're looking for a unique and Christ-centered Christmas meditation, Bright Evening Star will be a rich and delightful discovery -- year round

Gold Medal Winner in Spiritual Memoir, 2023 Nautilus Book Awards

A Place at the Table is a profound book, lyrically written, and subversively humorous in its observation of daily life lived in community. Carved around the shape of a meal, the book is written in part by Miranda Harris, whose tragic death in 2019 was a shock to many around the world who found her approach to hospitality and community a life-long inspiration. Miranda's daughter, Jo Swinney, writes alongside her, and together they explore the transformative way in which sharing food is at the heart of a shared life.

'The hope for this book is that you will be encouraged to make hospitality a more routine part of your life. That the pot on your stove will always be full enough to feed an extra mouth. That your schedule will have flexibility for an unplanned coffee and a chat. That your door will be often open and that, in all these small acts of welcome, you will see God at work, knitting you into closer, deeper and more life-giving relationships than you could have dreamed possible.'

An Unabridged Edition with all footnotes, to include lectures from 1963 - 1967: He Dreams in Me - Have You Found Him? - He Is My Resurrection - He Wakes in Me - His Name

More from the sportswriter who writes about faith ...

Here's a second helping of Terry Pluto's plain and personal musings on topics we all face in everyday life: insults and what they really mean, prayers that don't seem to get answered, endless sibling rivalry, figuring out how to relate to our fathers ...

My goal is not to convert anyone reading the paper, Terry writes. It is to make them think, and to bring some comfort. I write for people who are struggling with faith, or people in pain--physical or emotional. My job is to give them a voice, and to talk about the kind of faith we need to get through what life throws at us each day.

Terry writes for people who aren't always confident in their beliefs but know faith is still important to them ... For people who sometimes get mad at their church or disagree with their pastor yet don't want to lose the spiritual side of their lives ... For people of different faiths or backgrounds or who aren't even sure they're religious. These essays don't claim to have all the answers. But the questions they raise give readers something to think about all week.