Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much


Book Description

A hopeful and practical model for what it means to be a Christian and a culture-maker in a world of hurt and wondrous possibility, from multi–Grammy winner Charlie Peacock and his wife and author, Andi Ashworth. Do you feel powerless and overwhelmed by the pain and suffering all around you? Have you ever asked, What can I do to mend the world, my family, or my own life? And if I could, why bother? Does my own small part even matter? If so, here comes hope from two guides who are further down the road. Charlie and Andi have written a collection of letters to Christians and spiritual seekers who think deeply and care acutely about the state of the world and their personal spheres of influence. In Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much, beloved and trusted mentors, Charlie and Andi offer you: Thought-provoking explorations into the many facets of Christian culture care and making, from the kitchen to Carnegie Hall. Practical guidance for how to care for and improve the quality of human life, locally and globally, no matter your vocation. A theology of imagination and creativity that provides a framework for all of life. A model for expressing love in marriage, friendship, citizenship, and every kind of work—even in the midst of cynicism, fear, exhaustion, and oppression. It might be said of Christians that our lives are either moving in the direction of the redemption Jesus has on offer, or away from it. Each of these letters is a gentle nudge in the direction of God's powerfully ordinary purpose for each of us, no matter what the future holds, to participate fully in the beautiful, redemptive work of Christ.




Stuff Matters


Book Description

An eye-opening adventure deep inside the everyday materials that surround us, from concrete and steel to denim and chocolate, packed with surprising stories and fascinating science.




What Are You Going to Do?


Book Description

What Are You Going to Do? tells an inspiring true story. In the early 1950s, war scattered hundreds of thousands of orphans across South Korea. Many Koreans sacrificed everything to help. When Everett Swanson arrived to preach to troops on the front lines, he stumbled upon starving orphans. The plight of these children broke his heart. He faced the question: “What are you going to do?” Authors Matt Bronleewe and Eric Wilson tell how Swanson’s answer to those six little words led to the organization known today as Compassion International. Seventy years later, Compassion International sponsors over two million children all over the world, providing meals, education, vocational training, Bibles, letters of support, and more. We are often faced with the same question, “What am I going to do?” And, like Swanson, we feel inadequate, afraid, or ill-equipped. Readers will see how small faithful choices can lead to larger ones—and in so doing, change the world for generations to come. Everyone—young and old—should be acquainted with this amazing story of faith, courage, and compassion.




The Church in Dark Times


Book Description

We expect evil to appear in obvious forms: malice, cruelty, and contempt. We also expect to find villains at the helm of evil movements and organizations, leaders with dark impulses and motivations. But all too often, malevolence is more subtle, hiding behind our own best intentions. In The Church in Dark Times, cultural critic Mike Cosper unveils this dynamic in the growing crisis of abuse and other failures in modern evangelical churches. Drawing on the work of twentieth-century political theorist Hannah Arendt, Cosper explores what we can learn from her theory of the "banality of evil"--the thoughtlessness that allows ordinary people to become complicit in all manner of corruption. He uncovers the underlying causes of the breakdowns of the church and offers practices that foster healing and renewal. This book will engage Christian leaders and all followers who want to better understand how church crises keep happening--and how we can resist them and move forward.




The Artist's Joy


Book Description

The ultimate guide for creatives of all disciplines and levels to discover a sustainable, joyful artistic practice. Whether you are a dabbler, a career creative, or a long-time self-proclaimed "tortured artist," Dr. Merideth Hite Estevez is here to help. As a professional oboist, teacher, creative coach, graduate of The Juilliard School, and beloved host of the podcast Artists for Joy, Dr. Estevez knows the world of creatives and what they truly need to cultivate a life-giving practice. The Artist's Joy offers not only tools for the journey but a deeper understanding of the ways the miracle of creativity works in our lives. Dr. Estevez guides artists at all levels and in all disciplines to build a creative life that resonates deeply with their core values, and to cultivate an artistic practice that is joyful and sustainable. She shares her discoveries and insightful?coaching exercises that stem from the belief that when we are connected to what resonates deeply within us, the "tortured artist" trope simply doesn't hold. By looking at creative work through a new lens, she provides us a means to begin--or to begin again--in sustaining ways. Complete with self-coaching questions, a group discussion guide, and a companion playlist with tracks for musical meditation and creative engagement, this is your guide for life as an artist that will resonate long after the last note.




Simple Matters


Book Description

More than a decluttering guide, this book “speaks to the heart and soul of the minimalist lifestyle . . . a must-have manual for serenity in the modern world!” (Anne Sage, author of Sage Living). For anyone looking to declutter, organize, and simplify, author Erin Boyle shares practical guidance and personal insights on small-space living and conscious consumption. At once pragmatic and philosophical, Simple Matters is an essential manual for anyone who wants to bring more purpose and sustainability to their daily lives. Boyle demonstrates how the benefits of “living small” are accessible to us all—whether we’re renting a tiny apartment or purchasing a three-story house. Filled with personal essays, projects, and helpful advice on how to be inventive and resourceful in a tight space, Simple Matters shows that living simply is about making do with less and ending up with more: more free time, more time with loved ones, more savings, and more things of beauty.




Daydreamer


Book Description

Daydreamer By: Pete Daydreamer is something of a mélange of forms (journal, short stories...), mostly autobiographical fiction set in the second half of the 20th century. It also looks at forms/writing in general, including Daydreams.




Everything Matters!


Book Description

"Startlingly talented . . . he survives the inevitable, apt comparisons to Kurt Vonnegut and writes in a tenderly mordant voice all his own." -Janet Maslin, The New York Times In this novel rich in character, Junior Thibodeau grows up in rural Maine in a time of Atari, baseball cards, pop Catholicism, and cocaine. He also knows something no one else knows-neither his exalted parents, nor his baseball-savant brother, nor the love of his life (she doesn't believe him anyway): The world will end when he is thirty-six. While Junior searches for meaning in a doomed world, his loved ones tell an all-American family saga of fathers and sons, blinding romance, lost love, and reconciliation-culminating in one final triumph that reconfigures the universe. A tour de force of storytelling, Everything Matters! is a genre-bending potpourri of alternative history, sci-fi, and the great American tale in the tradition of John Irving and Margaret Atwood.




Istanbul Passage


Book Description

In the bestselling tradition of espionage novels by John LeCarre and Alan Furst, Istanbul Passage brilliantly illustrates why Edgar Award–winning author Joseph Kanon has been hailed as "the heir apparent to Graham Greene" (The Boston Globe). Istanbul survived the Second World War as a magnet for refugees and spies. Even expatriate American Leon Bauer was drawn into this shadow world, doing undercover odd jobs in support of the Allied war effort. Now as the espionage community begins to pack up and an apprehensive city prepares for the grim realities of postwar life, Leon is given one last routine assignment. But when the job goes fatally wrong—an exchange of gunfire, a body left in the street, and a potential war criminal on his hands—Leon is trapped in a tangle of shifting loyalties and moral uncertainty. Played out against the bazaars and mosques and faded mansions of this knowing, ancient Ottoman city, Istanbul Passage is the unforgettable story of a man swept up in the dawn of the Cold War, of an unexpected love affair, and of a city as deceptive as the calm surface waters of the Bosphorus that divides it.




Peace Is Every Step


Book Description

In the rush of modern life, we tend to lose touch with the peace that is available in each moment. World-renowned Zen master, spiritual leader, and author Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to make positive use of the very situations that usually pressure and antagonize us. For him a ringing telephone can be a signal to call us back to our true selves. Dirty dishes, red lights, and traffic jams are spiritual friends on the path to “mindfulness”—the process of keeping our consciousness alive to our present experience and reality. The most profound satisfactions, the deepest feelings of joy and completeness lie as close at hand as our next aware breath and the smile we can form right now. Lucidly and beautifully written, Peace Is Every Step contains commentaries and meditations, personal anecdotes and stories from Nhat Hanh’s experiences as a peace activist, teacher, and community leader. It begins where the reader already is—in the kitchen, office, driving a car, walking a part—and shows how deep meditative presence is available now. Nhat Hanh provides exercises to increase our awareness of our own body and mind through conscious breathing, which can bring immediate joy and peace. Nhat Hanh also shows how to be aware of relationships with others and of the world around us, its beauty and also its pollution and injustices. The deceptively simple practices of Peace Is Every Step encourage the reader to work for peace in the world as he or she continues to work on sustaining inner peace by turning the “mindless” into the mindFUL.