A religious meditation on borders-physical and spiritual-an elemental and humanist phenomenon for everyone. If Barbara Brown Taylor and Steven Covey ever wrote a book together, this might be the book! Living Compass is a church-based faith and wellness program designed for individuals and small groups. Readers engage in a 10-week, self-guided wellness retreat, consisting of daily ten-minute readings, plus small, meaningful action steps designed for getting "your life, your relationships, and your work headed in a new direction," according to the author. Deeply spiritual and exceedingly practical, this book joins the national Living Compass network, which includes a website, workshop series, wellness resources (including a free Living Well with Living Compass app), social media, and soon, a new multi-million-dollar wellness center to be located in the offices of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. Structured holistic wellness program for individuals and groups based on a highly successful retreat model developed by priest-psychologist. Builds on the national network of Living Compass workshops, presentations, and publications, and soon, a multi-million faith and wellness center in Chicago. Each chapter includes questions for reflection.

Much has been written on the relationship between violence and religious militancy, but there has been less research on constructive methods of confronting religious violence. This book represents an innovative attempt to integrate the study of religion with the study of conflict resolution. Marc Gopin offers an analysis of contemporary religious violence as a reaction to the pressures of modernity and the increasing economic integration of the world. He contends that religion is one of the most salient phenomena that will cause massive violence in the next century. He also argues, however, that religion can play a critical role in constructing a global community of shared moral commitments and vision - a community that can limit conflict to its nonviolent, constructive variety.

The author calls upon the world's religions to assist in combating the destructive trends of our time, mobilizing a virtual "alliance of religion and ecology" against unlimited economic growth, rampant consumption, and unrestrained globalisation. World religions have begun to move from a preoccupation with God-human relations and human-human relations to encompass human-earth relations. They are now entering their planetary or (Gaian) phase. In its new alliance with ecology, religion should move from isolated orthodoxy to interrelated dialogue, revivify its rituals and symbols in light of environmental crisis, align its moral authority with liberation rather than oppression, favour a this-worldly rather that other-worldly soteriology, and advance from anthropocentric to anthropocosmic ethics.

Many spiritual caregivers, including chaplains, spiritual directors and clergy, are unaware of how they can support people with chronic health conditions. This book combines insights on chronic illness with spiritual care skills and suggestions to enhance well-being for people living with long-term illness. Using a narrative approach, the author reflects on the stories of two women - Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, who travels from Kansas (a state of health) to Oz (an illness experience), alongside the author's personal experiences of managing an incurable autoimmune disease. Chapters will include guidelines and exercises that help equip caregivers to facilitate healing with people who live with long-term health conditions.

Research literacy is now a requirement for Board-Certified chaplains in the US and a growing field in the UK. This reader gives an overview and introduction to the field of healthcare chaplaincy research. The 21 carefully chosen articles in this book illustrate techniques critical to chaplaincy research: case studies; qualitative research; cross-sectional and longitudinal quantitative research, and randomized clinical trials. The selected articles also address wide-ranging topics in chaplaincy research for a comprehensive overview of the field. To help readers engage with the research, each article includes a discussion guide highlighting crucial content, as well as important background information and implications for further research. This book is the perfect primary text for healthcare chaplaincy research courses, bringing together key articles from peer-reviewed journals in one student-friendly format.

This book explores three schools of fascinating, talented, and gifted scholars whose philosophies assimilated the Jewish and secular cultures of their respective homelands: they include halakhists from Rabbi Ettlinger to Rabbi Eliezer Berkowitz; Jewish philosophers from Isaac Bernays to Yeshayau Leibowitz; and biblical commentators such as Samuel David Luzzatto and Rabbi Umberto Cassuto.Running like a thread through their philosophies is the attempt to reconcile the Jewish belief in revelation with Western culture, Western philosophy, and the conclusions of scientific research. Among these attempts is Luzzatto's "dual truth" approach. The Dual Truth is the sequel to the Ephraim Chamiel's previous book The Middle Way, which focused on the challenges faced by members of the "Middle Trend" in nineteenth-century Jewish thought.

Religious faith is a powerful source of comfort and support for individuals and families facing dementia. Many faith leaders need help in adapting their ministries to address the worship/spiritual needs of this group. A product of Faith United Against Alzheimer's, this handbook by 45 different authors represents diverse faith traditions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Native American. It provides practical help in developing services and creating dementia friendly faith communities. It gives an understanding of the cognitive, communicative and physical abilities of people with dementia and shows what chaplains, clergy and lay persons can do to engage them through worship. Included are several articles by persons living with dementia.

This book is born out of a wide range of practical experience of more than 20 years in working with people training for the ministry of spiritual direction. Spiritual direction recognises that there is an energy in life that moves a person outwards and influences the direction taken. The focus of the ministry is to help the person notice those movements and make good choices that enhance the Christ-like quality of life.  It acknowledges that the Holy Spirit is the primary director. See God act. The book seeks to provide a broader vision of the ministry drawing on insights from spirituality, scripture and psychology. These bring a fuller understanding of the person created by God, capable of knowing and responding to God. It acknowledges that many of the difficulties that arise in the direction of life are at the human, not the faith, level. Patterns are laid down in early life and can continue into adulthood. This can be so without much awareness of their source, though their influence may be evident.  Even in a prayerful reflective life, further help may be needed to bring greater freedom from unconscious influences. Moreover, freedom is a key mediator to facilitate moving on to accept the gifts God offers. Life is dynamic, not static, involving an inner and an outer journey. We live in relationships with God, self, others and all creation. Jesus is active in life and meets people where they are but does not leave them there. The invitation is onwards. Attention is drawn to, and there is an exploration of the dynamics involved in the different relationships to bring greater clarity to them.  The experience of working with people has highlighted the need of this development. Prayer that comes out of life and flows back into life is key to this. May the book inspire you to navigate your ongoing journey in the Lord in an integrated way.    

How old is prejudice against black people? Were the racist attitudes that fueled the Atlantic slave trade firmly in place 700 years before the European discovery of sub-Saharan Africa? In this groundbreaking book, David Goldenberg seeks to discover how dark-skinned peoples, especially black Africans, were portrayed in the Bible and by those who interpreted the Bible--Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Unprecedented in rigor and breadth, his investigation covers a 1,500-year period, from ancient Israel (around 800 B.C.E.) to the eighth century C.E., after the birth of Islam. By tracing the development of anti-Black sentiment during this time, Goldenberg uncovers views about race, color, and slavery that took shape over the centuries--most centrally, the belief that the biblical Ham and his descendants, the black Africans, had been cursed by God with eternal slavery.

Goldenberg begins by examining a host of references to black Africans in biblical and postbiblical Jewish literature. From there he moves the inquiry from Black as an ethnic group to black as color, and early Jewish attitudes toward dark skin color. He goes on to ask when the black African first became identified as slave in the Near East, and, in a powerful culmination, discusses the resounding influence of this identification on Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thinking, noting each tradition's exegetical treatment of pertinent biblical passages.

Authoritative, fluidly written, and situated at a richly illuminating nexus of images, attitudes, and history, "The Curse of Ham" is sure to have a profound and lasting impact on the perennial debate over the roots of racism and slavery, and on the study of early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

This book presents engaging reflections on the modern day Vietnamese Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh and the medieval Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart (1260-1327). It celebrates the common spiritual ground that exists between Christianity and Buddhism.

In Paul's day, producing and delivering a letter was time-consuming and costly. Informed by historical evidence and features of the biblical texts, E. Randolph Richards examines the whole process and offers a new perspective on Paul the letter writer.

Over a century ago, psychologists who were fascinated with religion began to study and write about it. Theologians and religious practitioners have responded to this literature, producing a fascinating dialogue that deals with our fundamental und- standings about the human person and our place in the world. This book provides an introduction to the important conversations that have developed out of these interchanges. The dialogue between psychology and religion is difficult to study for a number of reasons. First, it requires knowledge of both psychology and religion. People with a background in psychology often lack a solid understanding of the religious traditions they wish to study, and theologians may not be up to date on the latest developments in psychology. Second, it requires conceptual tools to organize the material and understand the basic problems involved in any attempt to connect the science of psychology with religion. These concepts can be found in many places, for instance in the writings of philosophers of science, but they are complex and often hard to follow for those without a proper theological and philosophical ba- ground. Finally, authors who write on the topic come to the study of psychology and religion from a variety of academic and personal backgrounds. This makes for wonderful diversity in conversations, but it makes understanding and mastery of the material quite difficult.