A practical and inspiring approach to tackling our environmental crisis, from a master spiritual teacher. We can heal our earth by choosing a simpler, more fulfilling lifestyle, as trustees of a compassionate universe. Eknath Easwaran presents a penetrating analysis of the spiritual roots of our current predicament and offers a realistic and hopeful way forward. Each of us has a role to play in making wise choices, and each of us can genuinely make a difference. Drawing inspiration and insight from Mahatma Gandhi, Saint Francis, and his own experience of living in the East and the West, Easwaran shows the connections between individual thoughts and actions that move beyond consumerism to the unity of life. Mahatma Gandhi formulated a series of diagnoses of our seemingly perpetual state of crisis, which he called "the seven social sins": knowledge without character, science without humanity, wealth without work, commerce without morality, politics without principles, pleasure without conscience, and worship without self-sacrifice. Easwaran explores each of these diagnoses in turn and presents an alternative hypothesis of who we are and how we fit into the universe. This is ecology as a great adventure, filled with the challenges and rewards of inner growth. Easwaran tells us that "once we open our eyes to cooperation, artistry, thrift, and compassion, we begin to see thousands of little things we can do to help restore the environment - and restore dignity and deeper fulfillment to our own lives." Eknath Easwaran is renowned as a teacher of meditation and for his translations of the Indian scriptures. His writings express timeless spiritual insights and are illustrated by stories from East and West. His books reflect two cultures: India, where he grew up in a self-supporting agrarian village, and the United States, where he taught and lectured for over thirty years. His early experiences of living in harmony with nature, his firsthand acquaintance with Gandhi's India, and his long familiarity with an American audience have resulted in this book: a deeply thoughtful examination of our present situation, and a blueprint for living as trustees of a compassionate universe, in a world that we would want our children and grandchildren to inherit.

What does it mean to preside like a woman at the Eucharist? Do women do it differently, or should they? How do lay women and men experience women's priestly ministry? This is an accessible, broadly popular book, pushing the boundaries in new and unusual ways, and making a serious contribution to feminist and liturgical debate. Contributors: Alistair Barrett; Andrea Bieler; June Boyce- Tillman M.B.E.; Veronica Brady; Barbara Darling; Susan Durber; Alison Green; Mary Grey; Gillian Hill; Ann Loades C.B.E.; Dorothy McRae-McMahon A.M.; Rachel Mann; Anita Monro; Julia Pitman; David Pluss; Natalie K Watson; Val Webb.

In Where the Edge Gathers, Flunder uses examples of persons most marginalized by church and society to illustrate the use of "village ethics"--knowing where the boundaries are when all things are exposed--and "village theology"--giving everyone a seat at the central meeting place or welcome table. She focuses on the following marginalized groups: 1) samesex couples, to convey the need to re-examine sexual and relational ethics; 2) transgendered persons, to illustrate the importance of radical inclusivity; 3) and gay persons living with AIDS, to emphasize the need to de-stigmatize society's view of any group of people. The book, which combines both Flunder's personal experiences with marginalized people and theological and pastoral literature on the topic, will appeal to denominational leaders and clergy who minister to the marginalized and/or the inner city.

Are you Weak, Small and Foolish Enough to Really Be Used by God? Have you ever wondered how God could possibly use someone like you? If so, then you are EXACTLY the type of person He is looking for. It's time to set aside every excuse and every weakness that has been holding you back and embrace the strength of our all-powerful God. You will soon discover that you have just the qualification you need the same qualification held by people like Gideon, David, Esther and Paul a heart that is willing to heed and obey God in anything He may ask. Such a heart opens the door through which God will do great and amazing things. Read this book and prepare for your own transforming encounter with the living God. You will find that there will be no limits to what God can do in and through you.

A decorated fighter pilot and PGA professional tells the story of his life and service-to both his nation and others-in this remarkable memoir that is a stirring record of faith, patriotism, family, philanthropy, and golf. What does it mean to be a patriot? For Oklahoma native Dan Rooney, it is someone who not only puts his life on the line for country, but who opens his heart and mind and seeks to build a life that embodies the purest and most concentrated essence of himself. For many, Rooney is the model of a patriot: as an Air Force pilot who deployed to Iraq, serving three tours of duty; as a professional golfer who established a nonprofit foundation awarding thousands of scholarships to the children of fallen and disabled veterans; as the father of five daughters; as a man of faith, whose copilot, both in the skies and on the ground, has always been God. A Patriot's Calling is his autobiographical journey through some of the most character-defining moments of his awe-inducing life and career. "On my third tour of duty in Iraq as F -16 fighter pilot, I felt a powerful calling from God to share the miraculous fusion of people and experiences uniquely placed along my journey. During my reflection, I began to understand how the forces of synchronicity had shaped my life. Synchronicity, or, as I like to call it, 'chance with a purpose,' is all around us. These encounters with God's messengers are the sign-posts along the road of life guiding us toward our essence." A Patriot's Calling illuminates Rooney's true essence-and offers guidance and inspiration for us all. A Patriot's Calling includes 40 photos and 3 maps.

This workbook looks at the biblical principles in the epistle to Ephesus that Watchman Nee first coined, "Sit, Walk, Stand." It is designed to help each believer grow to full maturity in Jesus Christ. Each new believer must first come to new life in Christ, after which begins a process of sitting. This is needed to help the new believer understand all that God in Jesus Christ has already done on our behalf. Next the believer takes this knowledge and begins to walk in a way pleasing to God. Finally, the end result is standing as a fully equipped soldier, using all of God's armor. But every believer has to come back and sit to learn more. A better, more productive walk is resumed. Finally, the believer is able to stand better equipped to battle with the enemy.

What we understand by the 'Middle East' has changed over time and across space. While scholars agree that the geographical 'core' of the Middle East is the Arabian Peninsula, the boundaries are less clear. How far back in time should we go to define the Middle East? How far south and east should we move on the African continent? And how do we deal with the minority religions in the region, and those who migrate to the West? Across this handbook's 52 chapters, the leading sociologists writing on the Middle East share their standpoint on these questions. Taking the featured scholars as constitutive of the field, the handbook reshapes studies on the region by piecing together our knowledge on the Middle East from their path-defining contributions. The volume is divided into four parts covering sociologists' perspectives on: * Social transformations and social conflict; from Israel-Palestine and the Iranian Revolution, to the Arab Uprisings and the Syrian War * The region's economic, religious and political activities; including the impact of the spread of Western modernity; the effects of neo-liberalism; and how Islam shapes the region's life and politics * People's everyday practices as they have shaped our understanding of culture, consumption, gender and sexuality * The diasporas from the Middle East in Europe and North America, which put the Middle East in dialogue with other regions of the world. The global approach and wide-ranging topics represent how sociologists enable us to redefine the boundaries and identities of the Middle East today.

In its attempt to squash the influence of animism and pantheism or polytheism and to promote the idea of the One and Only Absolute God, Islam has come up against a tendency within itself to incorporate certain local religious traditions and practices. This book shares that combination of universality and local particularity, exploring this paradox and the contradictory tendencies contained in it.

My Life as a Sidekick to Heroes reveals the journey of one man from growing up in a loving family to being a "ditch digger" to leading mission trips. Harold Jerde shows us what makes a real hero. He inspires readers to seek the same fulfillment in life he has found in serving others, whether it's digging a trench on an island in Alaska or nailing a roof on a house in Kentucky. *** "My Life as a Sidekick to Heroes is inspiring. The amazing stories motivated me. God can use anyone to change the world. It only takes a willing heart. Harold is not only a sidekick; he is one of God's exceptional heroes." Shirley Rose Total Living Network "Harold's life is proof one person can make a difference. See a need. Do what you can in Jesus' name to help. Move on to the next need. Could life be any simpler, more satisfying, more complete?" Levern Halstead Farsight Christian Mission "Harold challenges each of us to answer the question--what am I willing to accept to lead others to Christ? I know his answer. 'Whatever it takes.'" Bill Mills Christian Appalachian Project "Be careful as you read what follows. You'll get hooked. And then you won't be content until you, too, get on board with the mission of proclaiming Christ far and wide." Dr. James L. Nicodem Christ Community Church Harold Jerde left the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s, went into the construction business, building homes, subdivisions and mobile home parks, and calls himself a "ditch digger" by trade. He started taking mission trips in his late sixties and has led groups to Alaska, Haiti, Costa Rica, Mexico and Kentucky. He and his wife, Carol, live in De Kalb, Illinois.

Religious Ways of Experiencing Life: A Global and Narrative Approach surveys world religions, using the narratives and discourses of each tradition to describe it in its own terms. Carl Olson examines each tradition's practices, teachings, material culture, roles of women, and path to salvation, as well as the experiences of its followers. The exploration of lived experience draws out and emphasizes the plural nature of religious traditions. The volume includes chapters on all current major world religions, as well as material on ancient religions of the Mediterranean, indigenous North American and African spiritual traditions, and New Age and new religious movements. Featuring timelines and suggestions for further reading, this text will be of interest to undergraduate students seeking a broad introduction to World Religion or Lived Religion.

In contemporary Thai Buddhism, the burgeoning popularity of vipassana meditation is dramatically impacting the lives of those most closely involved with its practice: monks and mae chee (lay nuns) living in monastic communities. For them, meditation becomes a central focus of life and a way to transform the self. This ethnographic account of a thriving Northern Thai monastery examines meditation in detail, and explores the subjective signification of monastic duties and ascetic practices. Drawing on fieldwork done both as an analytical observer and as a full participant in the life of the monastery, Joanna Cook analyzes the motivation and experience of renouncers, and shows what effect meditative practices have on individuals and community organization. The particular focus on the status of mae chee - part lay, part monastic - provides a fresh insight into social relationships and gender hierarchy within the context of the monastery.

The Mediterranean and its hinterlands were the scene of intensive and transformative contact between cultures in the Middle Ages. From the seventh to the seventeenth century, the three civilizations into which the region came to be divided geographically - the Islamic Khalifate, the Byzantine Empire, and the Latin West - were busily redefining themselves vis-a-vis one another. Interspersed throughout the region were communities of minorities, such as Christians in Muslim lands, Muslims in Christian lands, heterodoxical sects, pagans, and, of course, Jews. One of the most potent vectors of interaction and influence between these communities in the medieval world was inter-religious conversion: the process whereby groups or individuals formally embraced a new religion. The chapters of this book explore this dynamic: what did it mean to convert to Christianity in seventh-century Ireland? What did it mean to embrace Islam in tenth-century Egypt? Are the two phenomena comparable on a social, cultural, and legal level? The chapters of the book also ask what we are able to learn from our sources, which, at times, provide a very culturally-charged and specific conversion rhetoric. Taken as a whole, the compositions in this volume set out to argue that inter-religious conversion was a process that was recognizable and comparable throughout its geographical and chronological purview.

The Muslim charity sector is stronger than ever, attracting thousands of volunteers and millions of pounds in donations. In times of mobile internet and social media, young people have set up small scale charities in urban areas, providing general social services to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Breaking away from bureaucratic non-governmental organisations and traditional faith-based charities, these smaller local associations are an attractive alternative to young people. This book offers an exploration of the Muslim charity sector, from multi-million pound NGOs to discrete grassroots charities who are quietly giving rise to the next generation of Muslim entrepreneurs, scholars, politicians and other influencers. From studies of eleven charities across France, Poland and the UK, it investigates key questions around this young and dynamic movement. What motivates these young Muslim volunteers? What shapes the socially-engaged behaviour of young Muslims? What is the place and the role of Islam in their involvement and commitment to their causes? What social impact do these organisations have in their local area? How do they understand religion, faith, participation and citizenship? What challenges do they face and how do they overcome these? The book also examines how these grassroots are successful in helping to prevent extremism, curb Islamophobia and challenge colonialism. The analysis of these small, local and original initiatives is fundamental in understanding the role of religiosity for these younger generations who are trying to articulate their multiple identities, cultures and traditions in a modern, secular society. Rich, detailed and vivid, the book sheds new lights on a popular field of research, unveiling exclusive key information on the subject of young European Muslims.

Food often defines societies and even civilizations. Through particular commensality restrictions, groups form distinct identities: those with whom 'we' eat ('us') and those with whom 'we' cannot eat ('them'). This identity is enacted daily, turning the biological need to eat into a culturally significant activity. In this book, Jordan D. Rosenblum explores how food regulations and practices helped to construct the identity of early rabbinic Judaism. Bringing together the scholarship of rabbinics with that of food studies, this volume first examines the historical reality of food production and consumption in Roman-era Palestine. It then explores how early rabbinic food regulations created a distinct Jewish, male, and rabbinic identity. Rosenblum's work demonstrates how rabbinic food practices constructed an edible identity.

Robbing the Jews reveals the mechanisms by which the Nazis and their allies confiscated Jewish property; the book demonstrates the close relationship between robbery and the Holocaust. The spoliation evolved in intensifying steps. The Anschluss and Kristallnacht in 1938 reveal a dynamic tension between pressure from below and state-directed measures. In Western Europe, the economic persecution of the Jews took the form of legal decrees and administrative measures. In Eastern Europe, authoritarian governments adopted the Nazi program that excluded Jews from the economy and seized their property, based on indigenous antisemitism and plans for ethnically homogenous nation-states. In the occupied East, property was collected at the killing sites - the most valuable objects were sent to Berlin, whereas items of lesser value supported the local administration and rewarded collaborators. At several key junctures, robbery acted as a catalyst for genocide, accelerating the progression from pogrom to mass murder.

The Guide for the Perplexed (Hebrew: Moreh Nevuchim, Arabic: dalalat al ha'irin is one of the major works of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, better known as Maimonides, or the Rambam.

It is the main source of his philosophical views. The main purpose of the work is to expound on Maaseh Bereishit and Maaseh Merkavah (the sections of Jewish mysticism dealing with Creation from Genesis and the passage of the Chariot from Ezekiel), these being the two main mystical texts in the Tanakh.

This book explores the fascinating world of religious hair observances within six religious traditions that account for 77% of the world's adherents: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Symbolic use of hair has been, and remains, prevalent in all six and carries significant amounts of religious and social meaning. Hair is a unique body substance. It can be shaped and colored, removed from us without pain but still retain an individual's essence, signal our age, sex, and sexual maturity, and much, much more. The book's approach is to situate each practice within its tradition. That requires a study of its foundational leaders and their teachings, sacred texts (where they mention hair), its rites and rituals, ideas of religious power and subsequent historical development. Contemporary practitioners are interviewed for their motivations. Even more insight can be gleaned by searching beyond an overt religious purpose. Social scientists from anthropology, sociology, psychology, and related fields bring their research to deliver added perceptions. The author reveals how hair practices are created from ancient psychological and cultural impulses, become modified by time, culture and religious intent, and are adopted by adherents for reasons ranging from personal religious expression to group identity. This book is written for the interested observer of our increasingly diverse society and for the student of comparative religion and sociology. It will change forever how you see hair.

Explaining how stillness in meditation refers not to a rigid and frozen body but to a quality of mind, Will Johnson examines the Buddha's own words at the core of the Satipatthana Sutta: "As you breathe in, breathe in through the whole body; as you breathe out, breathe out through the whole body"-- an instruction often overlooked in the majority of Buddhist schools. Exploring the Buddha's complete series of steps for deepening awareness of the breath, he shows how to invite natural, responsive movement back into the posture of meditation by extending breath awareness beyond the nostrils, lungs, and abdomen to the entire body--a practice that unifies the breath, body, and mind into a single shared phenomenon. Showing how the flow of breath is directly affected by chronic tensions in the body and in the mind, Johnson explains that when breath starts flowing through more and more of the body, it becomes a direct agent of healing, massaging and melting any areas of tension it touches and moves through, whether physical or emotional. By breathing through the whole body in accordance with the Buddha's instructions on breath, the body becomes much more comfortable, the mind starts resolving its addiction to thinking, and meditative practice deepens much more rapidly, allowing the teachings of the Buddha to be directly glimpsed and revealed.

Industrial modernity's worship of rationality had a profound effect on women's ways of knowing, marginalizing them along with other alternate forms of knowledge such as the imagination and the unconscious. Feminist Spirituality under Capitalism discusses the importance of women's spiritual knowledge throughout history and under the current socio-economic consensus. Within a critical analysis of the subjugation of certain knowledges, it investigates in particular the role that psychology and psychiatry have played in the repression of women. Aimed at students and researchers in the social sciences, the book will also appeal to anyone interested in critical psychology, politics, activism and social change.