Seeking Silence


Book Description

Discover the restorative power of silent reflection with this practical guide by the meditation teacher and author of Slaying the Three Dragons. Silence—deep inner silence—opens the pathways to spiritual self-discovery. But where can we find that silence in our noise-polluted world? This book provides a practical toolkit for escaping the clashing sounds of everyday life. Through gentle insights and guided meditations, it provides a quiet space for making mindful choices and learning to enjoy the profound benefits of tranquility—even as the noise around us continues.




A Book of Silence


Book Description

A personal and cultural exploration of silence and its value in our lives—“[an] artful book, mixing autobiography, travel writing, meditation, and essay” (Independent, UK). In her late forties, after a noisy upbringing as one of six children and adulthood as a vocal feminist and mother, Sara Maitland found herself living alone in the country and, to her surprise, falling in love with silence. In this fascinating, intelligent, and beautifully written book, Maitland describes how she began to explore this new love, spending periods of silence in the Sinai desert, the Scottish hills, and a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye. Maitland also delves deep into the rich cultural history of silence, exploring its significance in fairy tale and myth, its importance to the Western and Eastern religious traditions, and its use in psychoanalysis and artistic expression. Her story culminates in her building a hermitage on an isolated moor in Galloway. “Her book is probably unique in its subject, and timely, because good, healing silence is becoming hard to find, and we may not know we need it” (Guardian, UK).




Silence


Book Description

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. What is silence? In a series of short meditations, novelist and playwright John Biguenet considers silence as a servant of power, as a lie, as a punishment, as the voice of God, as a terrorist's final weapon, as a luxury good, as the reason for torture-in short, as an object we both do and do not recognize. Concluding with the prospects for its future in a world burgeoning with noise, Biguenet asks whether we should desire or fear silence-or if it is even ours to choose. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.




National Parks


Book Description

The flagship publication of the National Parks Conservation Association, National Parks Magazine (circ. 340,000) fosters an appreciation of the natural and historic treasures found in the national parks, educates readers about the need to preserve those resources, and illustrates how member contributions drive our organization's park-protection efforts. National Parks Magazine uses images and language to convey our country's history and natural landscapes from Acadia to Zion, from Denali to the Everglades, and the 387 other park units in between.




The Frozen River: Seeking Silence in the Himalaya


Book Description

‘A tour de force of luminous writing.’ Mark Cocker, Spectator




The Post Calvin


Book Description

We are a collection of Calvin College graduates who couldn't stop writing when the classes were done. Here, we explore these restless post-diploma years in the best way we know how.




Meditation


Book Description

Meditation is indigenous to all religions, and this book offers 63 step-by-step guides to both ancient and modern techniques. From ancient Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi and Hindu practices to Osho's own modern Dynamic Meditation and Mystic Rose Meditation, these methods will help any spiritual seeker further along the path to fulfillment.




Words and Witnesses


Book Description

How should Christians address specific problems, controversies, and crises in communication today? By looking at influential Christian thinkers throughout history, we can identify wisdom that enriches us today in practical ways. Words and Witnesses explores various influential Christian thinkers and theologians from across church history in order to expand our contemporary conversations in communication studies and media theory. Individual chapters written by contributing scholars focus on major Christian thinkers, starting with Athanasius, St. Augustine, and John Chrysostom, moving through the Middle Ages to address figures such as Anselm, Nicholas of Cusa, Teresa of Lisieux, and arriving in the present with reflections on the work of John Howard Yoder, C. S. Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Kuyper, and Desmond Tutu, among others. Each chapter delves into how the contemporary church, and scholars of media, can turn to these influential Christian thinkers as resources for addressing specific problems in communication today. By analyzing church practices, doctrine, and biblical texts this book provides the church with resources and inspiration to communicate in distinctly Christian ways.




Live Wise


Book Description

Every journey is best pursued by having an authentically wise guidebook to aid us in our understanding of (our ULR) how to wisely journey through life and reality. An authentically wise understanding (ULR understanding of life and reality) is informed both about how and why to travel, journey wisely. It is self-evident that truth and love matter to a life wisely lived, but it is not plainly evident whose explanation of life and reality (ELR) contains the very best explanation of constitutes enduring truth and authentic love. The God of the Bible said if left to ourselves, collectively we would be plagued by wars and rumors of wars, that famine and pestilent would plague our days. And we would also individually and in our intimate relationships as couples and families would find loving oneness much longed for but difficult to find and even more challengingly to sustain. Our much self-heralded humanly constructed ELRs, have not resulted in an enlightenment informed, progressively enriched existence but a reality persistently plagued by unity/chaos, clarity/confusion, peace/despair, and all life still finally ends in death. We were warned by the God of the Bible, we would come to suffer from a mind and heart condition similar to snow blindness termed reality blindness: better equipped to see analytically but yet persistently, congenitally spiritually blinded. Reality blindness is a congenital condition of humanity, a manifestation of being spiritually stillborn, if we elect to exist outside of a right standing with God. When all things are relative being equally true and false at the same time in the same relationship nothing is relevant: real gold is equal to fool’s gold, momentary lust and enduring love are equally valid emotional expressions. Humanly sourced understanding results in a form of mental, emotional hypothermia: reality began at my birth, all meaning is temporary, and in death we return to nothingness. In our various hypothermic states of existence, we numb our inevitable despair by self-medications found in drugs, sex, achievement, entertainment, etc. or some lash out with a coping strategy of hurting themselves or others. But wait! All is not lost. Our existence failure is not new nor unexpected nor unexplained. God created us with love hungry hearts only He can satisfy. God is both the great physician and ultimate parent who can both heal us spiritual today and gift us with an eternal relationship for all our tomorrows including a post-physical-death forever home. But you have to respond with a yes and to His offer of the Live Wise Solution: forgiveness and adoption. As directed by God, Live Wise is a Jesus sourced how-to guidebook for facing life and reality’s complexities and messiness with the singularly valuable wisdom and love of God only found in God’s ELRs: Jesus and the Bible. Initially God’s offer is a gift of forgiveness of our sins and an outpouring of love and peace that only need be accepted. Stop. Think. Believe. You make the call. Live Wise.




Writing and Being


Book Description

With powerful, practical, step-by-step writing exercises, a wealth of examples, and stories of personal transformation through journaling, Writing and Being demonstrates that intentional, guided journaling is a profound way to discover one's authentic self. Beyond mere diary writing, these creative journaling methods help readers chart a path for a better future. The book begins by providing tips for the logistics of journal keeping, and includes suggestions for getting started. It then explores the entire writing process and explains the distinctions between private writing and public writing. The book also explains the biology behind the powerful experience of journaling by laying out recent discoveries about the human brain, showing how journaling can heal psychological and spiritual wounds. Finally, the author shows how to make journaling both a voyage of self-discovery and a means of sharing one's journey and inspiring others in a caring community of expanding love, support, and positive energy.