Philosophy & Religion
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by Mary Lou Quinlan (Get the Book)
Quinlan's mother was a woman of strong faith who wrote notes to God during the last 20 years of her life, dating and signing many with "Love, Mary." Although her family was aware of these notes, when they discovered ten containers of them after her death, they were astonished at the revelations, hopes, and memories contained therein. An inspirational speaker, Quinlan reminisces about her beloved mother and details the pleas, prayers, and thanks she presented to God on napkins, scraps of newspaper, coasters, and business cards. The supplications span a wealth of emotions and quotidian concerns-from asking that Oprah might pay attention to her daughter's writing (it worked), to begging God to "Please take care of poor, sick, gentle Mandy," the family dog. Interspersed with Quinlan's narrative are color photos of Mary's notes, which the author maintains helped her to understand the "breadth of her empathy," explaining that her mother "inhaled a worry" and "exhaled a prayer." Though sometimes overly sentimental, the book is saturated with Quinlan's mother's charming personality-Mary would even caution family members that "if you think you can handle it better than God, [the note]'s coming out." Even for readers not inclined to bow their heads and pray, Mary's God boxes speak to the power of faith, hope, and family. --Publishers Weekly
by Mary deTurris Poust (Get the Book)
Many people today are looking for opportunities to bring the spiritual into their everyday lives in non-traditional ways. Their days are so busy they can't imagine how they can fit in time to kneel or sit in prayer on a regular basis. As a result, they fly from one activity to the next at breakneck speed, always looking forward to some nonexistent time in the future when things will slow down long enough to allow them to breathe, center themselves, and pray. Everyday Divine: A Catholic Guide to Active Spirituality helps busy readers explore different ways to achieve a place of stillness and peace while remaining very much in the world. In fact, the day-to-day activities of life become the pathway to prayer -- even the prayer itself. Drawing on Catholic tradition, from ancient monastics to modern-day saints and sages, Everyday Divine looks at how we can adapt these ancient practices for modern times, quoting holy men and women on various methods and offering practical instructions and suggestions to help people put them into practice. (Summary)
by Paramahansa Yogananda (Get the Book)
This attractive two-volume, slip-cased edition of The Second Coming of Christ, presents Paramahansa Yogananda's unique perspective on the real meaning of Jesus' teachings, and takes the reader on a revelatory journey, verse by verse, through the four Gospels. Dispelling centuries old misconceptions and dogma, this monumental work is destined to leave an indelible mark on the way the world views the teachings of Jesus Christ. "In titling this work The Second Coming of Christ, I am not referring to a literal return of Jesus to earth. He came two thousand years ago and, after imparting a universal path to God's kingdom, was crucified and resurrected; his reappearance to the masses now is not necessary for the fulfillment of his teachings. What is necessary is for the cosmic wisdom and divine perception of Jesus to speak again through each one's own experience and understanding of the infinite Christ Consciousness that was incarnate in Jesus. That will be his true Second Coming." (Publisher)
by Nassim Taleb (Get the Book)
In this overstuffed, idiosyncratic theory of everything we don't know, financial adviser and epistemologist Taleb amplifies his megaselling The Black Swan with further musings on the upside of unpredictable upheavals. Ranging haphazardly across probability theory, classical philosophy, government, medicine, and other topics, he contrasts large, complex, "fragile" systems that try to minimize risk but collapse under unforeseen volatility with small, untethered, "antifragile" systems structured to reap advantages from disorder. Taleb's accessible, stimulating exposition of these ideas yields cogent insights, particularly in finance-his specialty. (He essentially inflates a hedging strategy into a philosophy of life.) Often, however, his far-flung polymathic digressions on everything from weight-lifting regimens to the Fukushima meltdown or the unnaturalness of toothpaste feel tossed-off and unconvincing, given his dilettantish contempt for expert "knowledge-shknowledge." Taleb's vigorous, blustery prose drips with Nietzschean scorn for academics, bankers, and bourgeois "sissies" who crave comfort and moderation: "If you take risks and face your fate with dignity," he intones, "insults by half-men (small men, those who don't risk)" are no more rankling than "barks by non-human animals." More worldview than rigorous argument, Taleb's ramblings may strike readers with knowledge-shknowledge as ill-considered; still, he presents a rich-and often telling-critique of modern civilization's obsession with security. --Publishers Weekly
by Mike Huckabee (Get the Book)
Former Arkansas governor, presidential candidate, and current Fox News talk show host, Huckabee (A Simple Christmas) puts his trademark folksiness to use in a staged set of "grandpa's letters" to his one-year-old grandson, Chandler, and baby granddaughter, Scarlett. He hopes the two children will establish a "personal relationship with the Creator of All Things" and tells Chandler and Scarlett to be kind, especially to the less fortunate. He discusses love and marriage, the environment, and even creativity in decent, heartwarming ways, constantly referring to himself as "grandpa" for effect. In one pleasant chapter Huckabee makes the convincing case that pets, especially dogs, "make us better humans." He endorses patriotism and military heroism. Huckabee's down-home style attracts a loyal crowd from agrarian pietists to Tea Party activists. Here, nothing complex tugs at Huckabee's reassuring, anodyne thoughts, though that is likely a limitation of the form. However, he affirms values that are worth reiterating, even if he does so in treacly ways, and his easy-to-read essays will reinforce his admirers' fixed ideas. --Publishers Weekly
