Cultivating Hope


Book Description

Best-selling author Karen Casey offers a year-long program to guide us in opening ourselves to the awesome power of hope. "Cultivating Hope is a book that will be read and reread. Karen Casey touches that space in all of us that occasionally struggles to breathe more easily, to hope more assuredly." --Marianne Williamson, best-selling author of A Return to Love Best-selling author Karen Casey offers a yearlong program to guide us in opening ourselves to the awesome power of hope.It is hope--the ability to push past fear and open our minds to new possibilities--that empowers us to bring about positive change in our lives. Yet, amid personal tragedy and world events, many of us struggle to sustain a sense of hope for tomorrow.In Cultivating Hope, spiritual leader and recovery expert Karen Casey reveals everyday ways that we can open our hearts and minds to the awesome power of hope. For each week of the year, she offers a guiding principle with an accompanying essay that can help each of us achieve inner peace. Themes include healing through the expression of love, gaining a fresh outlook by understanding our anger, and freeing ourselves of constraint by letting go of judgment.By allowing Casey's principles, insights, and personal stories to penetrate our thoughts and inform our habits, we gain the perspective and strength to turn away from fear and open ourselves and our communities to a future filled with potential and positive change.




Happier, No Matter What: Cultivating Hope, Resilience, and Purpose in Hard Times


Book Description

Even when everything is going wrong, the science of happiness can help you! Pioneering positive psychologist and New York Times–bestselling author Tal Ben-Shahar shows us how in Happier, No Matter What. Ben-Shahar busts the all-too-common ideas that success brings happiness and that we can seek happiness itself. When hard times thwart our success and steal our joy, these ideas actually invite despair by leaving us with nothing to do. But we can do something: We can climb the SPIRE—Ben-Shahar’s five-step staircase to hope and purpose. Spiritual: I am experiencing meaning. Physical: My body’s needs are met. Intellectual: I am learning. Relational: My friends support me. Emotional: I am allowed to feel. By truly living these five elements of well-being, we build the resilience to carry us through anything—from a personal loss to a global pandemic. Ben-Shahar’s all-new SPIRE method shows us the way to becoming “whole again”—and when we’re whole, we invite happiness in.




Cultivating Food Justice


Book Description

Documents how racial and social inequalities are built into our food system, and how communities are creating environmentally sustainable and socially just alternatives.




Sometimes You Win--Sometimes You Learn


Book Description

#1 New York Times bestselling author John C. Maxwell believes that any setback, whether professional or personal, can be turned into a step forward when you possess the right tools to turn a loss into a gain. Drawing on nearly fifty years of leadership experience, Dr. Maxwell provides a roadmap for winning by examining the eleven elements that constitute the DNA of learners who succeed in the face of problems, failure, and losses. 1. Humility - The Spirit of Learning 2. Reality - The Foundation of Learning 3. Responsibility - The First Step of Learning 4. Improvement - The Focus of Learning 5. Hope - The Motivation of Learning 6. Teachability - The Pathway of Learning 7. Adversity - The Catalyst of Learning 8. Problems - The Opportunities of Learning9. Bad Experiences - The Perspective for Learning10. Change - The Price of Learning 11. Maturity - The Value of Learning Learning is not easy during down times, it takes discipline to do the right thing when something goes wrong. As John Maxwell often points out--experience isn't the best teacher; evaluated experience is.




Supersurvivors


Book Description

A supersurvivor is a person who has dramatically transformed his or her life after surviving a trauma, accomplishing amazing things or transforming the world for the better. When tragedy befalls, many people succumb to trauma and suffer many psychological setbacks such as posttraumatic stress disorder. Many are able to move past the trauma and return to normal life. Some, however, are able to bounce back stronger and tougher than before. This rare species is called the supersurvivor. The scope of suffering may vary, but most people face troubles small or big in their day-to-day lives. Supersurvivors offers astonishing stories of the indomitable human spirit which will put your own life and how you live it into perspective.




The Earth in Her Hands


Book Description

“An empowering and expertly curated look at the horticultural world.” —Gardens Illustrated In this beautiful and empowering book, Jennifer Jewell introduces 75 inspiring women. Working in wide-reaching fields that include botany, floral design, landscape architecture, farming, herbalism, and food justice, these influencers are creating change from the ground up. Profiled women include flower farmer Erin Benzakein; codirector of Soul Fire Farm Leah Penniman; plantswoman Flora Grubb; edible and cultural landscape designer Leslie Bennett; Caribbean-American writer and gardener Jamaica Kincaid; soil scientist Elaine Ingham; landscape designer Ariella Chezar; floral designer Amy Merrick, and many more. Rich with personal stories and insights, Jewell’s portraits reveal a devotion that transcends age, locale, and background, reminding us of the profound role of green growing things in our world—and our lives.




The Fabric of Hope


Book Description

This superb new volume is addressed to everyone interested in hope, regardless of their religious or philosophical beliefs. Glenn Tinder, one of our most astute and creative thinkers, probes the failure of modern, secular hope and shows, with great sensitivity and openness, why the tenets of Christian faith offer a true and meaningful source for hope amid the widespread distress, confusion, and despondency of contemporary life. From The Critics Jean Bethke Elshtain Glenn Tinder argues compellingly that modern despondency flows from a collapse of unreasonable optimism about our individual and collective prospects. By contrast to despondency and brittle optimism, Tinder calls for a renewal of hope. Framed by Christian belief, Tinder's elegant essay reaches out to appeal to all men and women troubled by our current condition. A beautifully written and touching work. Michael Novak Tinder's weighty essay on the nature, spirituality, and politics of hope offers an illuminating perspective on a central pillar of civilization. Mary Ann Glendon "A pristine intellectual and spiritual achievement by one of the most penetrating thinkers. of our day" Richard John Neuhaus "With this essay Tinder once again vindicated his reputation as one of the most incisive thinkers and graceful writers working today. His is a most powerful argument that only a hope that has come to terms with all the reasons for despair can sustain us into a future that we do not and cannot control. Tinder's wisdom is in knowing that attention to first things requires facing up to last things."




Paul Ricoeur on Hope


Book Description

In order to examine fully the nature of human beings, Paul Ricoeur crossed disciplinary boundaries in his work, moving from phenomenology to social and political thought, hermeneutics, and ethics. Running throughout Ricoeur's work - particularly Fallible Man, Time and Narrative, Oneself as Another, and his shorter pieces on hermeneutics, ethics, and religion - is a theme of the human capacity for hope. According to Ricoeur, hope is a capacity of expectation, oriented toward some future action, which aims at a good for self and others. The conditions for the possibility of hope are the unity and difference that exist within the self in transcendental, practical, and effective realms, and the self's ability to narrate, which is made possible by the self's existence within, and understanding of, time. Our capacity for hope is understood via the symbols of good and evil found in myths and sacred writings. Furthermore, hope is not limited to those who are religious; atheists may be just as hopeful as the devout. Exploring the nature of hope in Ricoeur's work allows for a greater understanding of hope and a greater ability to cultivate hope in oneself and others.




Hope Rising


Book Description

Discover the Path to Resilience and Joy Through Timeless Biblical Teachings In the swirling chaos of modern life, where challenges seem to loom at every corner, emerges a beacon of light promising not just to guide but to transform. "Hope Rising: Biblical Wisdom for Tough Times" is more than a book; it's a journey into the heart of resilience, strength, and unwavering faith. Dive into compelling narratives from the Bible that speak directly to the toughest trials you face today. From the enduring patience of Job to the triumphant courage of Esther, each story is meticulously explored to reveal hidden gems of wisdom that are as relevant now as they were centuries ago. Discover how these timeless lessons can illuminate your path, offering a new perspective on hope that is both refreshing and deeply comforting. The Psalms of Hope and Prophetic Voices of Hope chapters are treasures waiting to be uncovered. Walk through the valleys with the Psalms of Lament and feel the exhilarating release of the Psalms of Rescue. Let the visionary peace of Isaiah and the renewing promises of Jeremiah wash over you, bringing solace and strength to press forward. At the heart of this transformative book, the life and teachings of Jesus are presented as the ultimate embodiment of hope. The Beatitudes, Parables of Hope, and Paul's letters on suffering lead you through a profound exploration of how to find joy amidst trials, featuring practical applications that can be seamlessly integrated into daily life. But the wisdom doesn't stop there. Learn how to pray for hope, find hope in community, and overcome doubt with faith. Be inspired by modern-day stories of hope and gain actionable insights on cultivating your own hope and sharing it with others. "Hope Rising: Biblical Wisdom for Tough Times" is not just a book; it's a lifeline for anyone yearning for a resurgence of faith and a revival of spirit. Whether you're battling personal demons, wrestling with doubt, or simply seeking a beacon of hope in a troubled world, let this book be your guide to rediscovering the eternal spring of hope that flows through the heart of the biblical message. Embrace the journey within these pages as you find not just answers, but a whole new way of seeing the world. Your path to a more hopeful future begins here.




The Generative Power of Hope


Book Description

This book analyses how and why we are living at a critical moment in the history of human life on earth and explores how we find grounds for the hopes that will enable us to address the challenges and crises of our time. The author analyses hope both practically and philosophically as a generative virtue to realistically discern the situations in which we find ourselves, and imaginatively to anticipate possibilities when the future is unknown and uncertain. The author argues that hope is a mean between anomy, disillusionment, and despair, on the one hand, and wishful thinking, dreaming, and fanaticizing, on the other hand. The book not only examines – and analyzes from a historical perspective - the contemporary crises such as climate change, environmental degradation and its effects such as the social costs of these developments, but also further analyzes the character and micro-dynamics of hope and how it makes a difference in how we manage the crises which inevitably emerge. Though contemporary crises are those we tend to focus on, the author also engages with what is involved in a due regard for history and the relevance of a sense of history for addressing the crises of our time. He shows us what we can learn from revisiting some thoughtful reflections by thinkers like Niebuhr, Jaspers, Camus, and Arendt. Finally, the author shows us what is involved practically in anticipating possibilities, by looking at hope as a social practice and noting how hopeful people make a difference.