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Songs for the Butcher's Daughter: A Novel
by Peter ManseauSummer, sweltering, 1996. A book warehouse in western Massachusetts. A man at the beginning of his adult life -- and the end of his career rope -- becomes involved with a woman, a language, and a great lie that will define his future. Most auspiciously of all, he runs across Itsik Malpesh, a ninetysomething Russian immigrant who claims to be the last Yiddish poet in America. When a set of accounting ledgers in which Malpesh has written his memoirs surfaces -- twenty-two volumes brimming with adventure, drama, deception, passion, and wit -- the young man is compelled to translate them, telling Malpesh's story as his own life unfolds, and bringing together two paths that coincide in shocking and unexpected ways. Moving from revolutionary Russia to New York's Depression-era Lower East Side to millennium's-end Baltimore with drama, adventure, and boisterous, feisty charm to spare, the unpeeling of this friendship is a story of the entire twentieth century. For fans of Nicole Krauss, Nathan Englander, Richard Powers, Amy Bloom, and Lore Segal, this book will amaze at every turn: narrated by two poets (one who doesn't know he is and one who doesn't know he isn't), it is a wise and warm look at the constant surprises and ineluctable ravages of time. It's a book about religion, love, and typesetting -- how one passion can be used to goad and thwart the other -- and most of all, about how faith in the power of words can survive even the death of a language. A novel of faith lost and hope found in translation, Songs for the Butcher's Daughter is at once an immigrant's epic saga, a love story for the ages, a Yiddish-inflected laughing-through-tears tour of world history for Jews and Gentiles alike, and a testament to Manseau's ambitious genius.
Songs for the Soul
by Ivor Moody‘It is a song which illustrates the bittersweet paradox between distance and closeness. Paul McCartney recognised immediately the religious connotations of the song. The words of the song speak of a mother’s watching presence, a comforter of the broken hearted people of the world whose advice is to wait, to trust, and to believe that everything will come right in the end.’ – Ivor Moody on ‘Let it Be’. Songs for the Soul is a collection of musical musings and discussions from author Ivor Moody. In this book, Moody discusses his own interpretations of popular songs by the likes of The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel. Moody sees popular music as a natural extension of his own spirituality and writes that each of the six songs featured in this book contains, “a treasury of blessings.” He argues that whilst the songs are in fact secular they should not be dismissed or condemned, rather, they are open to spiritual interpretation. That music and the personal meanings we take from it should be incorporated into our everyday worship. ‘From ‘Message in a Bottle’ to ‘Let it Be’, Ivor Moody opens up the deepest messages, and lets these old songs be something new in the minds of the reader. Moving seamlessly from Sting to George Herbert, From Nina Simone to St. Paul he finds the hidden treasures and the spiritual nourishment nestled and embedded in popular song and links them to the great themes of scripture and the great spiritual writings of the past.’ – Revd Dr. Malcolm Guite.
Songs for the Spirits: Music and Mediums in Modern Vietnam
by Barley NortonSongs for the Spirits examines the Vietnamese practice of communing with spirits through music and performance. During rituals dedicated to a pantheon of indigenous spirits, musicians perform an elaborate sequence of songs--a "songscape"--for possessed mediums who carry out ritual actions, distribute blessed gifts to disciples, and dance to the music's infectious rhythms. Condemned by French authorities in the colonial period and prohibited by the Vietnamese Communist Party in the late 1950s, mediumship practices have undergone a strong resurgence since the early 1990s, and they are now being drawn upon to promote national identity and cultural heritage through folklorized performances of rituals on the national and international stage. By tracing the historical trajectory of traditional music and religion since the early twentieth century, this groundbreaking study offers an intriguing account of the political transformation and modernization of cultural practices over a period of dramatic and often turbulent transition. An accompanying DVD contains numerous video and music extracts that illustrate the fascinating ways in which music evokes the embodied presence of spirits and their gender and ethnic identities.
Songs for the Waiting: Reflections On The Songs And Stories Of Advent And Christmas
by Magrey R. DeVegaDespite the presence of many beautiful Advent songs in many of our hymnals, most of us would prefer to skip right to singing our favorite Christmas carols. But in our rush to get to the joy of Christmas, we forget what Advent is all about--watching and waiting for the coming of a promised king. <P><P>It is not about shopping, partying, gift wrapping, and vacationing. It is about resting, trusting, praying, and seeking. Through the words of moving Advent hymns and the powerful words of Scripture, Songs for the Waiting will help readers reclaim a sense of the beautiful anticipation and preparation that is central to Advent.
Songs from Scripture (LifeGuide Bible Studies)
by James W. Reapsome"Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is King of all the earth; sing ye praises with understanding," (Psalm 47:6-7). Throughout the Bible there are songs. Some are songs of celebration and hope while others express despair or humility and still others recount God's redemption. "Songs lift our hearts and minds," writes James Reapsome. "They powerfully convey truth poetically and musically. God commands us to love him totally and exclusively with the union of our emotion, intellect, and will. That's why he included songs when he inspired the words of the Bible." Taken together these songs reveal our humanity before God and the glory and grace of life in him. This nine-session LifeGuide Bible Study explores several biblical songs from both the Old and New Testaments. For over three decades LifeGuide Bible Studies have provided solid biblical content and raised thought-provoking questions—making for a one-of-a-kind Bible study experience for individuals and groups. This series has more than 130 titles on Old and New Testament books, character studies, and topical studies.
Songs in the Key of Solomon
by Anita Renfroe John RenfroeLadies, are you tired of trying to engage your man in something he is reluctant to do? Let's face it: husbands are not normally seen running to bookstores to buy a couple's devotional.And guys, are you tired of feeling like the term "devotional" is code for "boring? You may be thinking, Please, not one more thing to check off my daily to-do list. Plus, you and your wife have different views on what intimacy is all about, right?If either of you is wondering if you're living more with your "roommate" than your "soulmate," then this devotional can help you meet on common ground and discover each other in new ways. You won't even need an alarm clock to wake you when your "devotional time" is finished.Filled with insights from a real couple on real issues, Songs in the Key of Solomon will get you and your spouse laughing, thinking, sharing, touching, and praying - possibly all during the same reading. Each offering in this devotional is designed to spark connections around issues that matter, so you'll deepen your emotional, spiritual, and physical unity and ignite new levels of intimacy. (One devotional involves a bathtub and some candles...try not to get stuck on that one page over and over again.)Here is an invitation to hear the music in your marriage - maybe for the first time...or maybe once again.
Songs in the Key of Solomon: In the Word and in the Mood
by Anita Renfroe John RenfroeThis unique, fun, and sexy devotional celebrates how every great marriage involves mind, spirit, and body. In Songs in the Key of Solomon, John and Anita Renfroe write in a way that gets men and women excited about the spiritual—and physical—harmony devotions can bring. With hilarious stories, real-life ideas, and biblical grounding, the Renfroes offer readers the following: Sixty sensory-stimulating encounters for married couples to enjoyConversation starters to get to know each other&’s heart more deeplyPassages of Scripture to explore togetherMotivating ideas for connection that appeal to both women and menInsights into the link between emotional and physical intimacy Unlike any couples&’ devotional out there, Songs in the Key of Solomon helps readers in any season of marriage enjoy a new closeness on both sides of the sheets.
Songs of Christmas: Thomas Kinkade's Cape Light
by Katherine Spencer Thomas Kinkade'Tis the season to celebrate with friends. Some are old, some are new...and some are totally unexpected. It's the happiest time of year, but the Christmas spirit is lost on Lillian Warwick. Her beloved Ezra's failing health requires the help of an aide. Estrella Salazar quickly wins Ezra's admiration, but drives Lillian absolutely crazy. When a brutal storm forces Estrella's family to take shelter under Lillian's roof, her humbuggery is pushed to its limits. Amanda Harding comes home to Cape Light, feeling at loose ends in her life. A recent graduate and accomplished musician, she hopes to find a seat in a big-city symphony. In the meantime, the job of music director at Reverend Ben's church seems good enough. Unfortunately, she must share her practice space with Gabriel Bailey, who is restoring the stained glass windows. The rough-around-the-edges craftsman is Amanda's opposite in every way. Still, something rare and wonderful flourishes between them. When Amanda is offered an ideal opportunity to perform her music far from Cape Light, Gabriel encourages her to pursue it. But must she choose between her music and losing Gabriel forever? As Christmas nears, Lillian and Amanda both hearken to the sound of their favorite carols, but soon learn that sometimes the sweetest songs of Christmas are still waiting to be sung...
Songs of Kabir
by Wendy Doniger Arvind Mehrotra KabirA New York Review Books Original. Transcending divisions of creed, challenging social distinctions of all sorts, and celebrating individual unity with the divine, the poetry of Kabir is one of passion and paradox, of mind-bending riddles and exultant riffs. These new translations by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, one of India's finest contemporary poets, bring out the richness, wit, and power of a literary and spiritual master.
Songs of Kabir
by Rabindranath TagoreThe poet Kabór is one of the most interesting personalities in the history of Indian mysticism. A great religious reformer, the founder of a sect to which nearly a million northern Hindus still belong, it is yet supremely as a mystical poet that Kabór lives for us. A beautiful legend tells us that after his death his Mohammedan and Hindu disciples disputed the possession of his body; which the Mohammedans wished to bury, the Hindus to burn. As they argued together, Kabór appeared before them, and told them to lift the shroud and look at that which lay beneath. They did so, and found in the place of the corpse a heap of flowers; half of which were buried by the Mohammedans at Maghar, and half carried by the Hindus to the holy city of Benares to be burned.
Songs of Milarepa (Dover Thrift Editions)
by MilarepaA Buddhist holy man whose songs have been sung and studied since the twelfth century, Milarepa exchanged a life of sin and maliciousness for one of contemplation and love, eventually reaching—according to his disciples—the ultimate state of enlightenment. His thousands of extemporaneously composed songs communicate complex ideas in a simple, lucid style. This volume features the religious leader's best and most highly esteemed songs of love and compassion. Sure to inspire and provide reading pleasure to a wide audience.Considered by many of his followers to be another St. Francis, Milarepa exchanged a life of sin and maliciousness for one of contemplation and love, eventually reaching a state of enlightenment. His thousands of extemporaneously composed songs have been widely sung and studied since they were first recorded and disseminated centuries ago by his disciples. This volume features the best and most highly esteemed of the religious leader's songs of love and compassion that include lessons on the negative aspects of ambition and the importance of finding inner peace. In addition, he stresses the briefness of life: ". . . so apply yourself to meditation. Avoid doing evil, and acquire merit, to the best of your ability, even at the cost of life itself. In short: Act so that you have no cause to be ashamed of yourselves and hold fast to this rule."
Songs of Praise (Bible Daily Notes: Practical Application from God's Word)
by Jeff LucasIf you've ever been tempted to think that following God guarantees an easy life, King David&’s story will set you straight. King David is the only person described in the Bible as being &“a man after God&’s own hear&”—yet he was an adulterer and a murderer, among other things. His family fell apart toward the end of his life, and he made some terrible decisions along the way. But through it all, he was always ready, if not immediately, to admit he was wrong and to turn to God and ask for forgiveness. David poured out his heart to God in a whole series of poems and songs that make up most of the book of Psalms. In these Bible Daily notes, Jeff Lucas connects the Psalms with the occasions on which David may have written them, to shows us David, in all his goodness and all his sin. And in so doing, we—who are an equal mix of good and bad—find hope and reasons to thank God. Bible Daily notes are written by Jeff Lucas to help you apply the lessons of God&’s Word daily. Each day and with each devotion, Jeff uses his signature wit and wisdom to reveal insights and practical application you can use in your own life. Each Bible devotion takes only a few minutes to read, but the lessons learned can last a lifetime.
Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (World Christianity #2)
by Aminta ArringtonThe story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices.Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in each other’s fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world’s largest atheist state.A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies.
Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China (World Christianity #2)
by Aminta ArringtonThe story of how the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized one hundred years ago by the China Inland Mission is a familiar one in mission circles. The subsequent history of the Lisu church, however, is much less well known. Songs of the Lisu Hills brings this history up to date, recounting the unlikely story of how the Lisu maintained their faith through twenty-two years of government persecution and illuminating how Lisu Christians transformed the text-based religion brought by the missionaries into a faith centered around an embodied set of Christian practices.Based on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research, this volume documents the development of Lisu Christianity, both through larger social forces and through the stories of individual believers. It explores how the Lisu, most of whom remain subsistence farmers, have oriented their faith less around cognitive notions of belief and more around participation in a rhythm of shared Christian practices, such as line dancing, attending church and festivals, evangelizing, working in one another’s fields, and singing translated Western hymns. These embodied practices demonstrate how Christianity developed in the mountainous margins of the world’s largest atheist state.A much-needed expansion of the Lisu story into a complex study of the evolution of a world Christian community, this book will appeal to scholars working at the intersections of World Christianity, anthropology of religion, ethnography, Chinese Christianity, and mission studies.
Songs of the Sons and Daughters of Buddha: Enlightenment Poems from the Theragatha and Therigatha
by Andrew Schelling Anne WaldmanA lyrical translation of an inspired selection of verses from the earliest Buddhist monks and nuns.More than two thousand years ago, the earliest disciples of the Buddha put into verse their experiences on the spiritual journey--from their daily struggles to their spiritual realizations. Over time the verses were collected to form the Theragatha and Therigatha, the "Verses of Elder Monks" and "Verses of Elder Nuns" respectively. In Songs of the Sons and Daughters of the Buddha, renowned poets Andrew Schelling and Anne Waldman have translated the most poignant poems in these collections, bringing forth the visceral, immediate qualities that are often lost in more scholarly renditions. These selections reveal the fears, loves, mishaps, expectations, and joys of the early monks and nuns, when, struck by wild insight, they cried out the anguish or solace they knew in their lives.
Sonia Johnson: A Mormon Feminist (Introductions to Mormon Thought)
by Christine TalbotFew figures in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provoke such visceral responses as Sonia Johnson. Her unrelenting public support of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) made her the face of LDS feminism while her subsequent excommunication roiled the faith community. Christine Talbot tells the story of Sonia’s historic confrontation with the Church within the context of the faith’s first large-scale engagement with the feminist movement. A typical if well-educated Latter-day Saints homemaker, Sonia was moved to action by the all-male LDS leadership’s opposition to the ERA and a belief the Church should stay out of politics. Talbot uses the activist’s experiences and criticisms to explore the ways Sonia’s ideas and situation sparked critical questions about LDS thought, culture, and belief. She also illuminates how Sonia’s excommunication shaped LDS feminism, the Church’s antagonism to feminist critiques, and the Church itself in the years to come. A revealing and long-overdue account, Sonia Johnson explores the life, work, and impact of the LDS feminist.
Sonic Icons: Relation, Recognition, and Revival in a Syriac World (Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Thought)
by Sarah Bakker KelloggA vivid, artfully crafted, and deeply hopeful account of one community’s struggle to rediscover and reinvent itself after a century of genocidal loss, dispossession, and displacementTo the extent that Middle Eastern Christians register in Euro-American political imaginaries, they are usually invoked to justify Western military intervention into countries like Iraq or Syria, or as an exemption to anti-Islamic immigration policies because of an assumption that their Christianity makes them easily assimilable in the so-called “Judeo-Christian” West.Using the tools of multisensory ethnography, Sonic Icons uncovers how these views work against the very communities they are meant to benefit. Through long term fieldwork in the Netherlands among Syriac Orthodox Christians—also known as Assyrians, Aramaeans, and Syriacs—Bakker Kellogg reveals how they intertwine religious practice with political activism to save Syriac Christianity from the twin threats of political violence in the Middle East and cultural assimilation in Europe.In a historical moment when much of their tradition has been forgotten or destroyed, their story of self-discovery is one of survival and reinvention. By reviving the late antique Syriac liturgical tradition known as the Daughters and Sons of the Covenant, they seek a complex form of recognition for what they understand to be the ethical core of Christian kinship in an ethnic as well as in a religious sense, despite living in societies that do not recognize this unhyphenated form of ethnoreligiosity as a politically legitimate mode of public identity. Drawing on both theological and linguistic understandings of the icon, Sonic Icons rethinks foundational theoretical accounts of ethnicization, racialization, and secularization by examining how kinship gets made, claimed, and named in the global politics of minority recognition. The icon, as a site of communicative and reproductive power, illuminates how these processes are shaped by religious histories of struggle for sovereignty over the reproductive future.
Sonic Ruins of Modernity: Judeo-Spanish Folksongs Today (SOAS Studies in Music)
by Edwin SeroussiSonic Ruins of Modernity shows how social, cultural and cognitive phenomena interact in the making and distribution of folksongs beyond their time. Through Judeo-Spanish (or Ladino) folksongs, the author illustrates a methodology for the interplay of individual memories, artistic initiatives, political and media policies, which ultimately shape “tradition” for the past century. He fleshes out in a series of case studies how folksongs can be conceived, performed and circulated in the post-tradition era – constituting each song as a “sonic ruin,” as an imagined place. At the same time, the book overall provides a unique perspective on the history of the Judeo-Spanish folksong.
Sonorous Desert: What Deep Listening Taught Early Christian Monks—and What It Can Teach Us
by Kim Haines-EitzenEnduring lessons from the desert soundscapes that shaped the Christian monastic traditionFor the hermits and communal monks of antiquity, the desert was a place to flee the cacophony of ordinary life in order to hear and contemplate the voice of God. But these monks discovered something surprising in their harsh desert surroundings: far from empty and silent, the desert is richly reverberant. Sonorous Desert shares the stories and sayings of these ancient spiritual seekers, tracing how the ambient sounds of wind, thunder, water, and animals shaped the emergence and development of early Christian monasticism.Kim Haines-Eitzen draws on ancient monastic texts from Egypt, Sinai, and Palestine to explore how noise offered desert monks an opportunity to cultivate inner quietude, and shows how the desert quests of ancient monastics offer profound lessons for us about what it means to search for silence. Drawing on her own experiences making field recordings in the deserts of North America and Israel, she reveals how mountains, canyons, caves, rocky escarpments, and lush oases are deeply resonant places. Haines-Eitzen discusses how the desert is a place of paradoxes, both silent and noisy, pulling us toward contemplative isolation yet giving rise to vibrant collectives of fellow seekers.Accompanied by Haines-Eitzen&’s evocative audio recordings of desert environments, Sonorous Desert reveals how desert sounds taught ancient monks about solitude, silence, and the life of community, and how they can help us understand ourselves if we slow down and listen.
Sons And Daughters Of The Buddha: Daily meditations from the buddhist tradition
by Christopher TitmussChristopher Titmuss believes that the work of the great Buddhist writers can provide profound spiritual, religious, social, political and environmental insights. This collection of inspirational quotes, one thought-provoking excerpt for every day of the year, draws on the very best Buddhist writings from early sages to the work of contemporary writers such as Jack Kornfield and Thich Nhat Hanh. This is a book readers will want to keep for many years, and dip into time and again.
Sons and Daughters: A Novel
by Chaim GradeFrom &“one of the great—if not the greatest—contemporary Yiddish novelists&” (Elie Wiesel), the long-awaited English translation of a work, Tolstoyan in scope, that chronicles the last, tumultuous decade of a world succumbing to the march of modernity&“A great beard novel . . . Also a great food novel . . . A melancholy book that also happens to be hopelessly, miraculously, unremittingly funny . . . [Grade&’s] fretful characters vibrate as if they were drawn by Roz Chast [and] Rose Waldman's translation seems miraculous to me.&” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times&“It is me the prophet laments when he cries out, &‘My enemies are the people in my own home.&’&” The Rabbi ignored his borscht and instead chewed on a crust of bread dipped in salt. &“My greatest enemies are my own family.&”Rabbi Sholem Shachne Katzenellenbogen&’s world, the world of his forefathers, is crumbling before his eyes. And in his own home! His eldest, Bentzion, is off in Bialystok, studying to be a businessman; his daughter Bluma Rivtcha is in Vilna, at nursing school. For her older sister, Tilza, he at least managed to find a suitable young rabbi, but he can tell things are off between them. Naftali Hertz? Forget it; he&’s been lost to a philosophy degree in Switzerland (and maybe even a goyish wife?). And now the rabbi&’s youngest, Refael&’ke, wants to run off to the Holy Land with the Zionists.Originally serialized in the 1960s and 1970s in New York–based Yiddish newspapers, Chaim Grade&’s Sons and Daughters is a precious glimpse of a way of life that is no longer—the rich Yiddish culture of Poland and Lithuania that the Holocaust would eradicate. We meet the Katzenellenbogens in the tiny village of Morehdalye, in the 1930s, when gangs of Poles are beginning to boycott Jewish merchants and the modern, secular world is pressing in on the shtetl from all sides. It&’s this clash, between the freethinking secular life and a life bound by religious duty—and the comforts offered by each—that stands at the center of Sons and Daughters. With characters that rival the homespun philosophers and lovable rouges of Sholem Aleichem and I. B. Singer—from the brooding Zalia Ziskind, paralyzed by the suffering of others, to the Dostoyevskian demon Shabse Shepsel—Grade&’s masterful novel brims with humanity and heartbreaking affection for a world, once full of life in all its glorious complexity, that would in just a few years vanish forever.
Sons and Daughters: Spiritual orphans finding our way home
by Brady BoydUsing practical, firsthand stories that offer helpful, portable takeaways, Pastor Boyd looks at the interweaving of his journey from spiritual orphan to treasured son, offering candid stories and freeing insights for every Christian still longing to come home. The truth is, many of us as Christians still strive to “fit in” with God even when our Father offers us the identity of beloved daughters and sons. We’ve already been admitted, approved, and accepted—but we aren’t living that way. In Sons and Daughters, Pastor Boyd looks at the interweaving of God’s grace and our daily lives: How do those who know they are God’s children think, speak, and act differently? How do they function as leaders and friends? How do they walk through pain? You—and the purposes God has for you—are a cause for celebration, a reason to be both fearless and faithful. Come discover how to live like you belong.
Sons of Abraham: A Candid Conversation about the Issues That Divide and Unite Jews and Muslims
by Samuel G. Freedman Imam Shamsi Ali Rabbi Marc Schneier President Bill ClintonA prominent rabbi and imam, each raised in orthodoxy, overcome the temptations of bigotry and work to bridge the chasm between Muslims and Jews Rabbi Marc Schneier, the eighteenth generation of a distinguished rabbinical dynasty, grew up deeply suspicious of Muslims, believing them all to be anti-Semitic. Imam Shamsi Ali, who grew up in a small Indonesian village and studied in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, believed that all Jews wanted to destroy Muslims. Coming from positions of mutual mistrust, it seems unthinkable that these orthodox religious leaders would ever see eye to eye. Yet in the aftermath of 9/11, amid increasing acrimony between Jews and Muslims, the two men overcame their prejudices and bonded over a shared belief in the importance of opening up a dialogue and finding mutual respect. In doing so, they became not only friends but also defenders of each other's religion, denouncing the twin threats of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and promoting interfaith cooperation. In Sons of Abraham, Rabbi Schneier and Imam Ali tell the story of how they became friends and offer a candid look at the contentious theological and political issues that frequently divide Jews and Muslims, clarifying erroneous ideas that extremists in each religion use to justify harmful behavior. Rabbi Schneier dispels misconceptions about chosenness in Judaism, while Imam Ali explains the truth behind concepts like jihad and Shari'a. And on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the two speak forthrightly on the importance of having a civil discussion and the urgency of reaching a peaceful solution. As Rabbi Schneier and Imam Ali show, by reaching a fuller understanding of one another's faith traditions, Jews and Muslims can realize that they are actually more united than divided in their core beliefs. Both traditions promote kindness, service, and responsibility for the less fortunate--and both religions call on their members to extend compassion to those outside the faith. In this sorely needed book, Rabbi Schneier and Imam Ali challenge Jews and Muslims to step out of their comfort zones, find common ground in their shared Abrahamic traditions, and stand together and fight for a better world for all.
Sons of Blackbird Mountain: A Novel (A Blackbird Mountain Novel #1)
by Joanne BischofA Tale of Family, Brotherhood, and the Healing Power of LoveAfter the tragic death of her husband, Aven Norgaard is beckoned to give up her life in Norway to become a housekeeper in the rugged hills of nineteenth-century Appalachia. Upon arrival, she finds herself in the home of her late husband’s cousins—three brothers who make a living by brewing hard cider on their three-hundred-acre farm. Yet even as a stranger in a foreign land, Aven has hope to build a new life in this tight-knit family.But her unassuming beauty disrupts the bond between the brothers. The youngest two both desire her hand, and Aven is caught in the middle, unsure where—and whether—to offer her affection. While Haakon is bold and passionate, it is Thor who casts the greatest spell upon her. Though Deaf, mute, and dependent on hard drink to cope with his silent pain, Thor possesses a sobering strength.As autumn ushers in the apple harvest, the rift between Thor and Haakon deepens and Aven faces a choice that risks hearts. Will two brothers’ longing for her quiet spirit tear apart a family? Can she find a tender belonging in this remote, rugged, and unfamiliar world?A haunting tale of struggle and redemption, Sons of Blackbird Mountain is a portrait of grace in a world where the broken may find new life through the healing mercy of love.
Sons of Encouragement: Five Stories of Faithful Men Who Changed Eternity
by Francine RiversIn this five-book compilation of the Sons of Encouragement series, New York Times best-selling author Francine Rivers illuminates the lives of five Biblical men who stood behind the heroes of the faith and quietly changed eternity. Aaron, Caleb, Jonathan, Amos, and Silas each faithfully sought after God in the shadows of His chosen leaders. They answered God's call to serve without recognition or fame. And they gave everything, knowing their reward might not come until the next life.