During the Reformation, the mystery of the Eucharist was the subject of contentious debate and a nexus of concerns over how the material might embody the sublime and how the absent might be made present. For Kimberly Johnson, the question of how exactly Christ can be present in bread and wine is fundamentally an issue of representation, and one that bears directly upon the mechanics of poetry. In Made Flesh, she explores the sacramental conjunction of text with materiality and word with flesh through the peculiar poetic strategies of the seventeenth-century English lyric. Made Flesh examines the ways in which the works of John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, Edward Taylor, and other devotional poets explicitly engaged in issues of signification, sacrament, worship, and the ontological value of the material world. Johnson reads the turn toward interpretively obstructive and difficult forms in the seventeenth-century English lyric as a strategy to accomplish what the Eucharist itself cannot: the transubstantiation of absence into perceptual presence by emphasizing the material artifact of the poem. At its core, Johnson demonstrates, the Reformation debate about the Eucharist was an issue of semiotics, a reimagining of the relationship between language and materiality. The self-asserting flourishes of technique that developed in response to sixteenth-century sacramental controversy have far-reaching effects, persisting from the post-Reformation period into literary postmodernity.

One of the greatest poems of the classical world, Virgil's Georgics is a glorious celebration of the eternal beauty of the natural world, now brought vividly to life in a powerful new translation. 'Georgic' means 'to work the earth', and this poetic guide to country living combines practical wisdom on tending the land with exuberant fantasy and eulogies to the rhythms of nature. It describes hills strewn with wild berries in 'vine-spread autumn'; recommends watching the stars to determine the right time to plant seeds; and gives guidance on making wine and keeping bees. Yet the Georgics also tells of angry gods, bloody battles and a natural world fraught with danger from storms, pests and plagues. Expansive in its scope, lush in its language, this extraordinary work is at once a reflection on the cycles of life, death and rebirth, an argument for the nobility of labour and an impassioned reflection on the Roman Empire of Virgil's times. Kimberly Johnson's lyrical verse translation captures all the rich beauty and abundant imagery of the original, re-creating this ancient masterpiece for our times.

Womanist thought remains of critical importance given contemporary issues of social justice and advocacy. Womanist Ethical Rhetoric centers discourses of religious rhetoric and its influence on Black women's aims for voice, empowerment, and social justice in these turbulent times. The chapters utilize womanism, in conjunction with other frames, to examine how Black women incorporate different aspects of their identities into struggles for empowerment and celebrations of who they are in holistic ways that center love and community. This approach embraces both the commonalities and differences between womanists through theoretical and applied contexts. It advances the work of womanist predecessors and pays homage to them, most notably Rev. Dr. Katie Cannon's work on womanism and religion. Topics analyzed include Black women's spiritual and professional identities in religious organizations, the role of Black churches in Black Lives Matter, and the inclusion of all Black women in racial academic achievement gaps. Chapters also examine Black women's leadership and activism, including church leaders and representations in popular culture, and women's inclusion in the beloved community. This collection centralizes the plurality of Black women's lives, which is key to advancing their voices.

Womanist thought remains of critical importance given contemporary issues of social justice and advocacy. Womanist Ethical Rhetoric centers discourses of religious rhetoric and its influence on Black women's aims for voice, empowerment, and social justice in these turbulent times. The chapters utilize womanism, in conjunction with other frames, to examine how Black women incorporate different aspects of their identities into struggles for empowerment and celebrations of who they are in holistic ways that center love and community. This approach embraces both the commonalities and differences between womanists through theoretical and applied contexts. It advances the work of womanist predecessors and pays homage to them, most notably Rev. Dr. Katie Cannon's work on womanism and religion. Topics analyzed include Black women's spiritual and professional identities in religious organizations, the role of Black churches in Black Lives Matter, and the inclusion of all Black women in racial academic achievement gaps. Chapters also examine Black women's leadership and activism, including church leaders and representations in popular culture, and women's inclusion in the beloved community. This collection centralizes the plurality of Black women's lives, which is key to advancing their voices.

Imagine what would happen if our children were empowered from the earliest o ages to understand their emotions. What if they were taught positive words to use daily along with strategies to help them manage their emotions? What if all of these lessons could start as early as 2 years of age? The Adventures of BuLu is designed to give children life skills at the most impressionable time in their lives, early childhood. I believe by putting all the great thoughts in their minds as early as we can, we can empower them to be strong, thoughtful individuals who can understand that their happiness lies within them...nowhere else. Give your children the gifts of self love, confidence and happiness; an extraordinary foundation that will last them a life time

This book brings together ten essays on John Donne and George Herbert composed by an international group of scholars. The volume represents the first collection of its kind to draw close connections between these two distinguished early modern thinkers and poets who are justly coupled because of their personal and artistic association. The contributors' distinctive new approaches and insights illuminate a variety of topics and fields while suggesting new directions that future study of Donne and Herbert might take. Some chapters explore concrete instances of collaboration or communication between Donne and Herbert, and others find fresh ways to contextualize the Donnean and Herbertian lyric, carefully setting the poetry alongside discourses of apophatic theology or early modern political theory, while still others link Herbert's verse to Donne's devotional prose. Several chapters establish specific theological and aesthetic grounds for comparison, considering Donne and Herbert's respective positions on religious assurance, comic sensibility, and virtuosity with poetic endings. 

This book brings together ten essays on John Donne and George Herbert composed by an international group of scholars. The volume represents the first collection of its kind to draw close connections between these two distinguished early modern thinkers and poets who are justly coupled because of their personal and artistic association. The contributors' distinctive new approaches and insights illuminate a variety of topics and fields while suggesting new directions that future study of Donne and Herbert might take. Some chapters explore concrete instances of collaboration or communication between Donne and Herbert, and others find fresh ways to contextualize the Donnean and Herbertian lyric, carefully setting the poetry alongside discourses of apophatic theology or early modern political theory, while still others link Herbert's verse to Donne's devotional prose. Several chapters establish specific theological and aesthetic grounds for comparison, considering Donne and Herbert's respective positions on religious assurance, comic sensibility, and virtuosity with poetic endings. 

Sequel to Good QuestionQ&A: Book Two Two men from different worlds must realize they deserve to be loved and what they have together is real and worth fighting for. Though Jamison Coburn and Lonnie Bellerose have been a couple for a month, each worries he's not good enough for the other. Lonnie has always doubted his worth and right to be loved, despite a superb education and international upbringing. Jamison, an undereducated laborer, grew up in a loving family who never knew he was gay. As Jamison struggles to find his way as an out gay man, he fears the occasional stumble will send Lonnie packing. Lonnie doesn't trust that anyone would choose him and worries that Jamison will see better options. When Lonnie's abusive ex returns, he's determined to reclaim Lonnie. He works to exacerbate the new couple's differences and doubts in the hopes of splitting them up, which is proving too easy. For their love to last, Lonnie and Jamison will have to be brutally honest, not only with themselves, but with each other.

"Sequel to One Constant "

Throughout his life, successful artist Barnaby Rosenthal has been rescued repeatedly by his one constant, Charleston Meeks. But it s been seven tumultuous years since he s last seen the temporal agent outside of his dreams and paintings.

Recently retired from his father s Restore Point Program, Charleston s ready to approach Barnaby in their present year of 2020 and discover if the two of them can build a future on their harried past.

Standing between them is a conservative senator determined to erase the people saved by the RPP, and much of her rage is focused on Barnaby. For the senator, time travel goes against God s plan, so with the help of her hired guns, she intends to correct the program s meddling by any means necessary.

For the first time, Charleston may not be there to save Barnaby.

When he finds himself captivated by a movie-star handsome stranger he meets in a bar, lawyer Ford Reilly watches a simple one-night stand develop into a taste of what living honestly might bring him.

Out and proud Gus Hansen has built a small architectural firm from nothing, but could lose it all as he tries to break a contract he signed before knowing about the project's antigay ties.

After Ford discovers he spent a passionate night with the man on the other side of the dispute he's handling, he finds himself in more than one quandary. He can either maintain the status quo, enforcing the contract to the letter, or he can defy his overbearing father and break free of the closeted life he's built for himself in order to be with Gus.

Gus has his own choices to make. He knows the sting of loving a man who hides himself, but the longer he lingers in Ford's presence, the more difficult it becomes to deny their attraction.

Sequel to Broken Eli Burke and Alec Sumner are finding out that falling in love isn't the happily-ever-after they expected. Their efforts to move forward as a couple and put their broken pasts behind them are made all the more difficult by new fears and old secrets. There are other stressors too: disagreeing over where to live, dealing with other men intruding into their relationship, and deciding if they must abandon the families of their pasts to build one for the future. It may hurt, but being honest about what they fear, what they've done, and what they want may be the only way to forge a happy home.