In Queering Black Atlantic Religions Roberto Strongman examines Haitian Vodou, Cuban Lucumi/Santeria, and Brazilian Candomble to demonstrate how religious rituals of trance possession allow humans to understand themselves as embodiments of the divine. In these rituals, the commingling of humans and the divine produces gender identities that are independent of biological sex. As opposed to the Cartesian view of the spirit as locked within the body, the body in Afro-diasporic religions is an open receptacle. Showing how trance possession is a primary aspect of almost all Afro-diasporic cultural production, Strongman articulates transcorporeality as a black, trans-Atlantic understanding of the human psyche, soul, and gender as multiple, removable, and external to the body.

Are you looking for a way to strengthen and cultivate your faith? The Weekly Faith Project is a 52-week guided faith journal that offers a life-changing journey through reflection prompts and inviting questions to guide you into a deeper relationship with God. This yearly faith journal features beautifully illustrated journaling pages that will help you discover more intimacy and joy in your spiritual life. The Weekly Faith Project is: Perfect for a beginner in faith, but strong and thought provoking enough for someone who already has a solid foundation A heartfelt journaling format designed to help you focus on adding more faith into your day An uplifting addition to individual worship, Bible studies, and small groups Each week includes: A biblical theme to focus on A short but impactful Bible verse to help you reflect and meditate Inspirational insight to guide your thoughts and jumpstart your faith project Journaling prompts and lines to help you reflect and cultivate a genuine faith This 12-month journal: Showcases beautiful photography and calming colors Has a pretty ribbon marker, so you never lose your place Provides a ton of journaling space, but easily fits on your nightstand, tote bag, or a gift basket Is perfect for a self-purchase, Mother's Day, National Best Friend Day, a welcoming gift for Bible study groups, birthdays, and holidays Check out the rest of the series, The Weekly Prayer Project and The Weekly Gratitude Project.

Revive Your Heart is a call for spiritual renewal and an invitation to have a conversation with one of the world s most recognizable voices on Islam, Nouman Ali Khan. This collection of essays is disarmingly simple, yet it challenges us to change. To revise our actions, our assumptions and our beliefs so we can be transformed from within, as well as externally. It aims to help modern Muslims maintain a spiritual connection with Allah and to address the challenges facing believers today: the disunity in the Muslim community, terrorists acting in the name of Islam, and the disconnection with Allah. These challenges and more are tackled by Nouman Ali Khan, with his profound engagement with the Qur'an, in his trademark voice that is sought out by millions of Muslims on a daily basis. About the Author Nouman Ali Khan is a Muslim speaker and the CEO and founder of Bayyinah Institute, an Arabic studies educational institution in the United States. Currently, he is recognized as one of the world's most influential Muslims, not only in the West.His deep and profound bond with the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book, is at the heart of his work and the focus of his teachings, which manage to reach out to millions of Muslims from many different countries. "

Drug abuse, particularly opioid addiction, is more of a public health problem than ever before - so much so that in March 2018, the American College of Physicians will recommend that substance abuse disorders be treated as a chronic medical condition. They urge physicians to become more fa miliar with addiction, and as the epidemic rises, health professionals of all kinds are looking for alternative means of healing to treat those in need. With its powerful and spiritual view on recovery, One Breath at a Time is more relevant now than ever before. Since its initial publication in 2004, the book has sold steadily - it's netted more than 62,000 copies mainly through the author's promotion and busy events and workshop schedule. The revised edition will include a new conclusion by the author describing how the book has been a cornerstone of his teachings over the past years and a new foreword by a contributor. In One Breath at a Time, Griffin shares his own extraordinary journey to sobriety and how he integrated the Twelve Steps of recovery with Buddhist mindfulness practices. He examines each step and how it relates to Buddhist teachings and presents techniques for finding clarity and awareness. One Breath at a Time describes the convergence of two vital traditions - one ancient, the other contemporary - and shows how they work together to create a rich spiritual path.

Centuries before the birth of Christ, Buddha taught a path of love, compassion and forgiveness originating from his experiences of suffering in the world. The cause of suffering, he believed, lay within the soul, which had become self-centred and egotistic. Buddha inaugurated the Eightfold Path for purification and transformation - eight exercises which could lead to a new relationship with the world, from self-centredness to a warm interest in one's environment and in other people. The exercises, described and explained here in their correct sequence - with each preparing the individual for the next step - are: the right view, the right resolve, the right word, the right action, the right standpoint, the right effort, the right remembrance and the right contemplation.In this small book, based on commentary given by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) as well as his own intensive work with many groups, Joop van Dam has created a practical guide for anyone wishing to take up this path of personal development. He gives particular focus to the benefit that can be gained from the Eightfold Path by those in the educational, therapeutic and caring professions.

Drawing on universal principles and providing grounded instruction, The Spiritual Practice of Good Actions shows you how to achieve better balance within your soul. Discover the thirteen soul traits ranging from humility and gratitude to trust and honor and the daily actions you can take to develop them. Perfect for beginners, this book helps you create a soul trait profile and explore the traits through specific teachings and exercises, including mantras, mindful action, and journaling. By spending two weeks on each trait and nurturing your soul through the corresponding stories, examples, and recommendations, you ll see major changes in how you approach the world for a more meaningful life.

This book generates the confidence to believe that God will keep you headed in the right direction. The author's keen perception will help you find hope in life's ordinary events. He'll show you how God's encouragement can become real and personal.

The Samaritans: A Biblical People celebrates the culture of the Israelite Samaritans, from biblical times to our own day. An international team of historians, folklorists, a documentary filmmaker and contemporary artists have come together to explore ways that Samaritans, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have interacted, often shunned and always interpreted one another across the expanse of western civilization. Written for both the general reader and the scholar, The Samaritans: A Biblical People is a centerpiece of the Israelite Samaritans Project of the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies. This exquisitely illustrated volume celebrates a traveling exhibition produced jointly with the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C.

Life today is full of difficulties--loss, sadness, fear. In the midst of these challenges, joy often feels impossible or out of reach. But Jesus has more for His followers than a life of striving, pain, and discontent. If you love Jesus Calling, you'll enjoy Jesus Always. With Scripture and personal reflections, the #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Young brings Jesus' message of joy--for today and every day with this 365-day devotional. Jesus Always has sold over 2 million copies! This leathersoft large deluxe edition: Is perfect for gifting Is a keepsake for regular readers Includes easy-to-read large type, and full Scriptures By taking the time to draw near to Him with Jesus Always, you will discover how to: Intimately and gently connect with Jesus--the One who meets you where you are Identify joy-filled reminders from the Word of God Process challenging situations, anxiety, and grief with a hopeful outlook Strengthen your faith and create a deeper bond with Jesus Written as if Jesus Himself is speaking directly to the reader, Jesus Always invites you into a new way of living--a life of joy.

Sociologist Jeffrey Guhin spent a year and a half embedded in four high schools in the New York City area - two of them Sunni Muslim and two Evangelical Christian. At first pass, these communities do not seem to have much in common. But under closer inspection Guhin finds several common threads: each school community holds to a conservative approach to gender and sexuality, a hostility towards the theory of evolution, and a deep suspicion of secularism. All possess a double-sided image of America, on the one hand as a place where their children can excel and prosper, and on the other hand as a land of temptations that could lead their children astray. He shows how these school communities use boundaries of politics, gender, and sexuality to distinguish themselves from the secular world, both in school and online. Guhin develops his study of boundaries in the book's first half to show how the school communities teach their children who they are not; the book's second half shows how the communities use "external authorities" to teach their children who they are. These "external authorities" - such as Science, Scripture, and Prayer - are experienced by community members as real powers with the ability to issue commands and coerce action. By offloading agency to these external authorities, leaders in these schools are able to maintain a commitment to religious freedom while simultaneously reproducing their moral commitments in their students. Drawing on extensive classroom observation, community participation, and 143 formal interviews with students, teachers, and staff, this book makes an original contribution to sociology, religious studies, and education.

Combining traditional Jewish wisdom with the most up-to-date scientific research on long-lasting relationships, Beyond the Chuppah is a hands-on guide for enriching Jewish and interfaith relationships. Based on the proven Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP), the book shows couples how to recognize the special issues that are unique to Jewish and interfaith relationships and learn the skills they need to create a marriage that's intimate, loving, and fun. Using the practical tools found in this book, Jewish couples will discover how to "fight right" to resolve conflicts, improve their communication skills, do what's right for the children, and, most of all, appreciate the pleasure of each other's company.

Forgiveness is hard. But Jesus knows how much we need it. True forgiveness can be complicated because the pain of betrayal, loss, deception, and personal attack clings tightly to our emotions, memories, even our bodies. We may intend to forgive yet become stuck in our own mixed motives, others’ silence or anger, and the skewed stories we believe and tell about our lives. In The Ignatian Guide to Forgiveness, Marina McCoy delves into the principles of Ignatian spirituality and uses gentle honesty to lay out 10 steps toward forgiveness, including:   Sort out true desires Honor anger while deepening compassion Make friends with time Create a new story . . . and more.   Each chapter offers stories, real-life steps to take, and a powerful prayer for healing Forgiveness is hard, but it’s also possible—with our “habits of mercy� and God’s abundant grace.

There is more to meditation than simply sitting quietly and emptying our mind. When we look within and practice contemplative meditation, we will be able to connect to a higher world, and receive inspirations and guidance to live a better life. This book introduces various types of meditation, including calming meditation, purposeful meditation, reading meditation, reflective meditation, and meditation to communicate with heaven. Through reading and practicing meditation in this book, we can experience the miracle of meditation, which is to start living a life of peace, happiness, and success. With how-tos and answers to common questions about meditation, this simple but profound book will awaken your soul and encourage you to start living a more mindful, positive, and fulfilled life.

Since the 1970s, tens of thousands of Vietnamese immigrants have settled in Louisiana, Florida, and other Gulf Coast states, rebuilding lives that were upended by the wars in Indochina. For many, their faith has been an essential source of community and hope. But how have their experiences as migrants influenced their religious practices and interpretations of Buddhist tenets? And how has organized religion shaped their understanding of what it means to be Vietnamese in the United States? This ethnographic study follows the monks and lay members of temples in the Gulf Coast region who practice Pure Land Buddhism, which is prevalent in East Asia but in the United States is less familiar than forms such as Zen. By treating the temple as a site to be made and remade, Vietnamese Americans have developed approaches that sometimes contradict fundamental Buddhist principles of nonattachment. This book considers the adaptation of Buddhist practices to fit American cultural contexts, from temple fundraising drives to the rebranding of the Vu Lan festival as Vietnamese Mother's Day. It also reveals the vital role these faith communities have played in helping Vietnamese Americans navigate challenges from racial discrimination to Hurricane Katrina.