The creative force behind Blackberry Farm, Tennessee's award-winning farm-to-table resort, reveals how she found herself only after losing everything in this powerful memoir of resilience. Born with 'the gift of hospitality', Kreis Beall helped create one of the South's most enchanting destinations, Blackberry Farm, in Tennessee's Smoky Mountain foothills. For decades, she was a fixture in the entertaining world and on the glossy pages of popular home and design magazines. But beautiful exteriors and glowing accolades papered over deep inner pain. At the pinnacle of her success, a brain injury left her with devastating hearing loss. That was followed by the collapse of her thirty-six-year marriage to her best friend and business partner, Sandy Beall--and a few years later, the tragic death of her son Sam, the proprietor of Blackberry Farm, at age thirty-nine. Alone and desolate as her marriage ends, Kreis begins a new journey, to find her faith and find God. After spending years on her exterior life and work, now she must begin the hardest undertaking of all: to reclaim her interior life and soul. Kreis retreats to Blackberry Farm, moving into an unassuming, 300-square foot shed with peeling paint on the exterior walls 'where I met myself for the first time.' Out of brokenness has come reflection, re-examination, and bit by bit, healing and meaning. By turns fiercely honest, heartbreaking, and warm, Kreis Beall's story will resonate with anyone who has ever searched to find genuine beauty among their own flaws and scars.

By 388 C.E., Augustine had broken with the Manichaeism of his early adulthood and wholeheartedly embraced Nicene Christianity as the tradition with which he would identify and within which he would find meaning. Yet conversion rarely, if ever, represents a clean and total break from the past. As Augustine defined and became a "Catholic" self, he also intently engaged with Manichaeism as a rival religious system. This second volume of Jason David BeDuhn's detailed reconsideration of Augustine's life and letters explores the significance of the fact that these two processes unfolded together.BeDuhn identifies the Manichaean subtext to be found in nearly every work written by Augustine between 388 and 401 and demonstrates Augustine's concern with refuting his former beliefs without alienating the Manichaeans he wished to win over. To achieve these ends, Augustine modified and developed his received Nicene Christian faith, strengthening it where it was vulnerable to Manichaean critique and taking it in new directions where he found room within an orthodox frame of reference to accommodate Manichaean perspectives and concerns. Against this background, BeDuhn is able to shed new light on the complex circumstances and purposes of Augustine's most famous work, "The Confessions," as well as his distinctive reading of Paul and his revolutionary concept of grace. "Augustine's Manichaean Dilemma, Volume 2" demonstrates the close interplay between Augustine's efforts to work out his own "Catholic" persona and the theological positions associated with his name, between the sometimes dramatic twists and turns of his own personal life and his theoretical thinking.

Fethullah Gulen is an enlightened person who knows well many issues related to literature, art, philosophy and science, he is a man of action who has not wasted his life, but struggled to serve humanity.

A celebration of Neem Karoli Baba, one of the most influential spiritual leaders of our time, the divine guru who inspired and led a generation of seekers-including Ram Dass, Daniel Goleman, and Larry Brilliant-on life-changing journeys that have ultimately transformed our world. In 1967, Baba Ram Dass-former American Harvard professor Richard Alpert-left India to share stories of his mysterious guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharajji. Introducing idealistic Western youth to the possibilities inherent in spiritual development, Ram Dass inspired a generation to turn on and tune in to a reality far different from the one they had known. From the spring of 1970 until Maharajji died on September 11, 1973, several hundred Westerners had his darshan (in Hinduism, the beholding of a deity, revered person, or sacred object). Those who saw him formed the Maharajji satsang-fellow travelers on the path. Love Everyone tells the stories of those who heard the siren call of the East and followed it to the foothills of the Himalayas. The ways they were called to make the journey, their experiences along the way, and their meeting with Maharajji form the core of this multicultural adventure in shifting consciousness. The contributors share their recollections of Maharajji and how his wisdom shaped their lives. All have attempted to follow Maharajji's basic teaching, his seemingly simple directives: Love everyone, feed everyone, and remember God. All have found their own way to be of service in the world and, in so doing, have collectively touched the hearts and souls of countless others.

"I didn't realize there was another 'hermit' of Walden Pond!" is the usual response author-historian Terry Barkley receives when he tells someone the subject of his new book. Henry David Thoreau's experiment there from 1845-1847 is widely known and immortalized in his classic Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854). However, stresses Barkley, "Neither the world nor even most avid Thoreauvians know about Edmond Hotham's six-months at Walden Pond during the winter of 1868-1869," the fascinating story of which is detailed in The Other "Hermit" of Thoreau's Walden Pond: The Sojourn of Edmond Stuart Hotham. A generation later and nearly seven years after Henry Thoreau died in 1862 of tuberculosis in Concord, Massachusetts, a young theological student from New York City arrived in Concord in November 1868. Edmond Hotham had never been there, but he immediately began preparations to pursue the "wild life." He met transcendentalist poet (William) Ellery Channing, a former close friend of Thoreau's who had suggested to Thoreau that he build his cabin at Walden Pond. It was Channing who likely introduced Hotham to transcendentalist leader Ralph Waldo Emerson (the "Sage of Concord"), and Emerson who gave Hotham permission, like Thoreau before him, to build his "Earth-cabin" on the poet's property at Walden Pond. Edmond Hotham's sojourn at Walden Pond was the first and only time someone traveled to Walden Pond to emulate Thoreau's experiment in simplicity. Hotham made his way to Walden Pond to pursue some "private business" while he was preparing for Christian ministry and stateside missionary work. He built his shanty on the pond's shore about 100 yards in front of Thoreau's, where he attempted to out-economize and out-simplify Thoreau. Hotham's sojourn as the second "hermit" at Walden Pond exemplified the growing adulation of Henry David Thoreau and his literary work. Author Terry Barkley has gleaned archival sources, vital records, period newspaper accounts, and census rolls for everything that is known about Edmond Hotham.The Other "Hermit" of Thoreau's Walden Pond is the first book-length treatise on Hotham, half of which is wholly new material. It far supersedes the late Kenneth Walter Cameron's 1962 article on Hotham, which until now was the most complete study of the man. Barkley's groundbreaking study book is an important addition to the Concord-Walden Pond story and a fascinating read. To quote Thoreau, "What is once well done is done forever."

Josiah's Fire is an amazing true story of family, hope, and hearing God's voice through a speechless boy. Joe and Tahni Cullen were thrust into a nightmare when their two-year-old son, Josiah, a typical toddler, suddenly lost his ability to speak, play, and socialise. The diagnosis was Autism Spectrum Disorder. Tahni felt like she had been handed a prison sentence. How could a good God have allowed this to happen, and how can Tahni find hope for their future? In their attempts to see Josiah recover and regain speech, the Cullens underwent huge physical, emotional, and financial struggles. While other kids around him improved, Josiah only got worse. Five years later, Josiah, who had not been formally taught to read or write, suddenly began to type on his iPad profound sentences about God, science, history, business, music, strangers, and his heavenly encounters. Josiah's ongoing visions, revelations, and heavenly visits forced his family out of their comfort zone, predictable theology, and stagnant relationship with God, catapulting them into a mind-blowing adventure with Jesus. Josiah's contagious love for God and the Bible, along with his eye-opening visions of biblical proportions, unveil God's glory and majesty and incite a fresh outpouring of joy and hope. Follow a trail of truth into Josiah's mysterious world, and see why his family and friends can no longer stay silent.

St Paul is known throughout the world as the first Christian writer, authoring fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament. But as Karen Armstrong demonstrates in St Paul: The Misunderstood Apostle, he also exerted a more significant influence on the spread of Christianity throughout the world than any other figure in history. It was Paul who established the first Christian churches in Europe and Asia in the first century, Paul who transformed a minor sect into the largest religion produced by Western civilization, and Paul who advanced the revolutionary idea that Christ could serve as a model for the possibility of transcendence. While we know little about some aspects of the life of St Paul - his upbringing, the details of his death - his dramatic vision of God on the road to Damascus is one of the most powerful stories in the history of Christianity, and the life that followed forever changed the course of history.

"You have a call, Elder Wilder." When missionary Micah Wilder set his sights on bringing a Baptist congregation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he had no idea that he was the one about to be changed. Yet when he finally came to know the God of the Bible, Micah had no choice but to surrender himself-no matter the consequences. For a passionate young Mormon who had grown up in the Church, finding authentic faith meant giving up all he knew: his community, his ambitions, and his place in the world. Yet as Micah struggled to reconcile the teachings of his Church with the truths revealed in the Bible, he awakened to his need for God's grace. This led him to be summoned to the door of the mission president, terrified but confident in the testimony he knew could cost him everything. Passport to Heaven is a gripping account of Micah's surprising journey from living as a devoted member of a religion based on human works to embracing the divine mercy and freedom that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

The Book of Sarah is missing from the bible, so artist Sarah Lightman sets out to make her own: questioning religion, family, motherhood and what it takes to be an artist in this quietly subversive visual autobiography from NW3. The Jerusalem Bible, Ellerdale Road, St Paul's Girls School and a baby monitor: books and streets, buildings and objects ll this bildungsroman set in Hampstead, North West London. Sarah Lightman has been drawing her life since she was a 22-year-old undergraduate at The Slade School of Art. The Book of Sarah traces her journey from modern Jewish orthodoxy to a feminist Judaism, as she searches between the complex layers of family and family history that she inherited and inhabited. While the act of drawing came easily, the letting go of past failures, attachments and expectations did not. It is these that form the focus of Sarah's astonishingly beautiful pages, as we bear witness to her making the world her own.

Pope John Paul II is one of the pivotal figures of this century, the spiritual head of more than one billion believers and a world statesman of immense stature and influence. Yet, at the age of seventy-six and in the eighteenth year of his papacy, he remains a mystery -- theologically, politically, and personally. Now, through unprecedented access to both the Pope himself and those close to him, veteran "New York Times" correspondent and award-winning author Tad Szulc delivers the definitive biography of John Paul II. This strikingly intimate portrait highlights the Polishness that shapes the Pope's mysticism and pragmatism, while providing a behind-the-scenes look at the significant events of his public and private life, including:

• The inside story of the negotiations involving John Paul II, Soviet President Gorbachev, and General Jaruzelski of Poland that led to Poland's and Eastern Europe's transition from communism to democracy
• John Paul II's secret diplomacy, which resulted in the establishment of relations between the Holy See and Israel
• The never-before-told story of how the Polish communist regime helped to "make" Karol Wojtyla an archbishop, the key step on his road to the papacy.

Fascinating and thought-provoking, this biography of Pope John Paul II is vital reading not only for Roman Catholics, but for anyone interested in one of the most important figures of our time.

Since his retirement as Archbishop of Canterbury and his return to academic life (Master of Magdalene College Cambridge) Rowan Williams has demonstrated a massive new surge of intellectual energy. In this new book he turns his attention to St Augustine. St Augustine not only shaped the development of Western theology, he also made a major contribution to political theory (City of God) and through his Confessions to the understanding of human psychology. Rowan Williams has an entirely fresh perspective on these matters and the chapter titles in this new book demonstrate this at a glance - 'Language Reality and Desire', 'Politics and the Soul', 'Paradoxes of Self Knowledge', 'Insubstantial Evil'. As with his previous titles, Dostoevsky, The Edge of Words and Faith in the Public Square this new study is sure to be a major contribution on a compelling subject.

Piper, who suffered a horrific accident and was clinically dead for 90 minutes, returned to life only to go through a painful recovery, tells of his "welcoming committee" in heaven and the significant role each of them had on his earthly life. Their words and actions impacted him for eternity. People I Met at the Gates of Heaven continues the heaven conversation that is of such interest to people and shows how we can and should influence others on earth for heaven's purposes, just as those who preceded Don to heaven influenced him. At the end of each chapter there will be questions for further reflection or group discussion. As well, Piper and his writing partner Cecil Murphey have included a Q&A section at the back of the book-questions people have most often asked Piper about what heaven is like, who is there, and what they can expect when they die. This all-new, delightful, revealing book will not only answer your questions about heaven but it will also challenge you to answer Jesus' call to "draw all people unto Me."

On 28 February 2013, a 600-year-old tradition was shattered: the conservative Pope Benedict XVI made a startling announcement. He would resign. Reeling from the news, the College of Cardinals rushed to Rome to congregate in the Sistine Chapel to pick his successor. Their unlikely choice? Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,200 years, a one time tango club bouncer, a passionate football fan, a man with the common touch.

From the prize-winning screenwriter of The Theory of Everything and Darkest Hour, this is a fascinating, revealing and often funny tale of two very different men whose destinies converge with each other - they both live in the Vatican - and the wider world.

How did these two men become two of the most powerful people on Earth? What's it like to be the Pope? What does the future hold for the Catholic Church and its 1 billion followers?

The Two Popes is a dual biography that masterfully combines these two popes' lives into one gripping narrative. From Benedict and Francis' experiences of war in their homelands - when they were still Joseph and Jorge - and the sexual abuse scandal that continues to rock the Church to its foundations, to the intrigue and the occasional comedy of life in the Vatican, The Pope glitters with the darker and the lighter details of life inside one of the world's most opaque but significant institutions.