No comments about The Keys to Wigglesworth's Power.

4 comments about Unfinished Love: Walking by Faith through Pediatric Cancer.

1. It's funny how we can stumble across truly amazing books by happenchance this is one of them. In this book Sherry writes of "How this always happens to families far away". Dirk and Sherry grew up and went to school in the same community as me I graduated high school with her younger sister. I'm sorry to say when they were facing this battle I just had a passing interest in their story as it was being told in our local newspaper it was as if them living in Florida made them that family far away. Fast-forward two years to just before Mother's Day 2008 Sherry's sister Michelle wrote an article for our local newspaper this time I paid attention being it was from a former classmate. I made up my mind to read the book after reading Michelle's story in the paper and I'm glad I did. This book tells of the real story of what its like to deal with a serious illness of a family member. She doesn't sugarcoat anything it tells of the feeling of just being a number or statistic to some of the medical professionals while feeling the care and compassion of others. I think it's a must read for everyone in the medical profession perhaps it will give the better understanding people are more than numbers. This book has a little bit of everything from joys to sorrow to tears to laughter and it's a story that will touch your heart as you realize there is more to life than materialistic things. The most important message from this book is to "Live like you were dying", Carpe Diem, Love deeper, Laugh louder, Hug longer and most of all NEVER take anything or anyone for granted for our time on earth is short.



2. This day to day accounting of the life of this dear boy would serve to help any person dealing with struggles of any kind. Sherry Tucker does an amazing job of letting the reader accompany her and Zach as they follow the path of treatments, doctors, and the day to day support the family receives from their love of God. It points to the positive outlook that one must try to take when confronted with the horrible monster known as pediatric cancer. Be grateful for the small things in life. Never take them for granted. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on God)



3. Having a lot of loss in my lifetime, I often blamed God for the terrible things that happened to me and the people that I loved most. How could He let such things happen if He was a good and caring and loving God? I have since become a Christian and God has healed my heart of so much, it is truly incredible. I always want to share that because I know there are so many hurting people, and He is the answer that sticks... but I often wondered, what would happen to my faith if something were to happen to one of my children? Would I pass the test or run back to blaming Him? This book reached places in my heart that I didn't know existed. Page by page you walk through the every day life of this extraordinary family as they pour out their love onto their little boy with brain cancer. It is also a story of how when you run TO God instead of AWAY from God during difficult times, He surrounds you in ways you'd never dream of to carry you through.... even the death of your only son. Be prepared to be changed.



4. Most of my thoughts about parents of children with cancer are about how sad it must be to lose a child. This book opened my eyes to what is much more painful - the actual life that comes with the battle. I am amazed and inspired by the faith that Sherry Tucker sustained during her son's horrible struggle. This book is more than a story about pediatric cancer, it is a book about the realities of the situation. It will change your view of what can happen and what role God plays when his purpose for your child is to join Him in Heaven. Dont miss the opportunity to learn from this mother's journey to save her child and herself.

4 comments about Mother Teresa.

1. I am not a brilliant reviewer, and probably don't have anything scholarly or outstanding to say about this book. I don't know if saying that I know it has and will change my life is the truth and I hope that is enough to make you want to read this book.
   I was home sick with the flu. Getting out of bed was a task seeminly unaccomplishable. I had this book in my pile to be donated to the library. I was struck to read it, although it had been too long in the donation pile I had never been struck to read it before.
   "The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions". Confucious (551-479). This quote, no, is not in the book but makes me think of Mother Teresa. This book, Written by a dear friend of hers in such an easily readable style, we are not bombarded by profound literary thought, or brilliant quotes, but the true to life story of a living saint. I had always known Mother Teresa was a wonderful person, but I did not know what a miracle worker this woman was! This Godly woman set foot with three saris a few pennies into the slums of India, hoping to give love and hope where none existed. With no money, little education and having left the security of the confines of the Convent where she did her missionary work for years in India as teacher and Principle of a school for both Young Nuns and the poor children of India. I believe the year was 1942 that Mother Teresa had a vision that she was to go amongst the poor and serve them in the streets where it is needed most. With much meditation and consultation with her spiritual advisor father van exem it took much time for her dream to come to realization. She wanted to remain faithful to her catholic faith and not be seen as a "secular" that had abandoned her role as Mother. Years later with nothing more than three Saris and pennies she was on her way into the streets. She was offered money by the Catholic Church, but refused all, saying that God would be her provider. And God was.
   This is a European woman that stepped out into the poorest of the poor streets of India with no money, no home and no guarantees. She has been ridiculed, starved had stones thrown at her been threatened and persecuted. Rejected and lacking in support from the Catholic Church. This is a woman who started her first school in India with a twig that she drew out the Bengali alphabet in under a tree. She didn't believe in saving, as she always believed that God would provide. She never asked for donations, but sometimes would resort to begging as the poor did. Never for herself always for others. The amazement of this woman was that she did it all on faith. today there are homes created by mother Theresa in over 130 countries including the U.S. Her Missionary Services called Missionaries of Charity continues to grow even after her death. There are Sisters and Brothers that serve and have all taken the poverty vow.They live exactly like the poor. No possesions, sometimes starving and always depending on God. I cried the whole time I read the book, because it became so evident to me how one humble little heart could change the world. She always refered to herself as a mere instrument of God and all the work was done by God. This amazing woman has services that take care of almost every need. no one is left out. From the dying, the homeless, leprosy victims, to drug and alcohol rehab services. Everything created without a bank account. This amazing book changed me. I hope it will change all.



2. Here is an authoritative account of the inspiring life and extraordinary achievements of that frail and ordinary looking little woman named Mother Teresa, written by a friend and admirer from India, who does not even share her faith. Navin Chawla is a senior civil servant working with the government of India, who came into contact with Mother Teresa and was inspired by her to take up the cause of those affected by leprosy, about which he has written another book. This book is the fruit of his hard labor of five years which consisted of various personal conversations with his subject herself and numerous visits to the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta and elsewhere. He traveled to different continents to visit the innumerable friends and helpers of Mother Teresa in order to gather direct information. He had access to the various letters, records and documents of the Missionaries of Charity through one of the senior members of the congregation specially designated for the purpose by the Mother herself.

   He narrates the story of this Catholic nun and Nobel Prize winner with great sensitivity and intuitiveness, never idealizing his subject nor belittling her magnificence. He manifests a clear grasp of the details of the government of the Church and the faith of Mother Teresa though as a Hindu these were foreign to him. He focuses very much on the work of the Mother in order to describe her personality and convictions thereby heeding to her repeated calls "write about the work". The distressing recollections of the children in the Shishu Bhawan, like those of Bapi and Dadda, the tales of woe heard from Balu, Jehangir and many others at the Leprosy Centre and the poignant glimpses of the dying men and women at Kalighat are indeed moving. Mr. Chawla writes with ease and elegance, required for the biography of a person of her stature, intending it for an international audience. This is the best biography of hers written by an Indian who knew her well personally.




3. What makes this hagiography stand out from the many other profiles of Mother Teresa is Navin Chawla's unprecedented access to the Saint of the Gutters. In addition to knowing Mother Teresa for over twenty years, she asked her sisters, associates, and volunteers to cooperate with him in compiling her life story. As a result, readers are privy to Mother Teresa's private one on one meeting with Queen Elizabeth, her phone call from Sadam Hussain, and a hodgepodge of other historical tidbits that provide nearly unfathomable contrasts.

   Like any accurate biography of Mother Teresa, the book discusses her tremendous respect for non-Christian religions. One of her lifelong goals was to make people better at their religion-better Buddhists, better Muslims, better Jews, or better Christians. The author subtly portrays that as just one of the many ironies to Mother Teresa. With the possible exception of the Pope, nobody stood as a more widely know avatar of the Catholic Church; yet, millions of the people she aided were not Christians. An unflinching defender of Catholic dogma, she unquestionably reached out to those whose problems were the direct result of what she considered sinful behavior. From the many hospices she established to care for AIDS victims to the Missionaries of Charity's loving worldwide support for unwed mothers, Mother Teresa's devotion knew no bounds.

   With its publication about five years before her death, Navin has produced a felicitous tribute to a woman whose eleemosynary life will serve as an inspiring example for the remainder of humanity's existence.




4. If, like Goldilocks in the children's fable, you're looking for the book about Mother Teresa that is "just right", you found it. If you want to buy only one book, the one that will give you the true to life picture of the physically diminutive and otherwise bigger than life nun, Chawla's biography is for you.

   Authors too close to the subject give unnecessary details that distract from the main points. Such is the case in "Mother Teresa, Her Life, Her Work Her Message". But that book, written by a Missionary of Charity Co-Worker, redeems itself with valuable anecdotes and useful explanations.

   Authors too distant from the subject see Mother Teresa mainly in her administrative actions and miss the powerful personal charisma, the driving force. Kathryn Spink's complete authorized biography, "Mother Teresa", falls on that end of the scale. It includes a complete appendix listing the place and date of opening of every Missionary of Charity Foundation outside of India, plus Mother's unabridged acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize. The exhaustive research makes Spink's work an essential resource for the serious investigator of Mother Teresa's work, but not necessarily the book to introduce you to Mother Teresa, the person.

   The source that is just right is the author who has a native understanding of India, coupled with a professional knowledge of the many factors required to work with lepers. Add the objectivity of someone not Catholic, but with an inquiring mind and a university education and you have Navin Chawla. Chawla spent five years preparing this work, making sure he understood the inner person, and then delivering his insights. For example, from the Prologue "As a Hindu, it took me longer than most to understand that Mother Teresa is with Christ each concious hour, whether at Mass or with each of those to whom she tends. It is not a different Christ on her crucifix and a different one which lies dying at Kalighat....For Mother Teresa, to love one's ! neighbor is to love God....This is what is essential to her..."

   Chawla's book is powerful because his understanding is powerful. He takes nothing for granted. He focuses on the heart of the matter before him: how to explain this unique individual. The complexity of roles that Mother Teresa mastered are all in Chawla's book. He presents the Teresa that stands up to angry mobs, cajoles resources out of ministers of state, bandages lepers, rules an order numbering thousands of young women, croons a song to an orphan, and much more. How does she do this and maintain integrity with her mission, fidelity to her doctrine and obedience to her religious advisors? What is different about this particular nun? These are some of the questions anyone hoping to write about Mother Teresa must answer. Chawla, the "just right" biographer, gives answers that are neither analytical and dry, nor sentimental and trivial. He carefully balances interviews, research, and his personal experiences with Mother Teresa. The result is a picture of Mother Teresa that is both informative and compelling.

   A biography must make me smile, and feel along with the writer. It must make me involved enough in the subject to be there, or it's only a reference book.

   Mother Teresa never took time to read anything written about her. I have a feeling that, if she had, Mother Teresa may have preferred this book, written by one from her adopted country. Written by one who, like herself, had an interest in helping lepers.

   But that is just my personal guess. Read it and see if you think so too.

2 comments about Into the Promised Land: Beyond the Lesbian Struggle.

1. Let me start off by stating that I have not read this book. The purpose of my review is purely to rebut the false claims made in the review preceding mine.
   
   Please note that the author is not just a "former" lesbian hiding behind a facade of celibacy, but a happily married wife with a husband and children of her own. She knows what heterosexual love and lovemaking is, so don't let the aforementioned factual errors dissuade you from considering buying this book.



2. If you can accept logic such as: "you're only gay if you're sexually active" then this book is for you. A "former" lesbian who has been celibate for 19 years wrote this book with the message that you can be in God's Grace by completely denying your sexuality altogether. By that logic I guess she's conquered the "Lesbian Struggle."
   
   5 stars for trying to take a stand, -3 for logic flaws an 8 year old could identify, -1 for excessive thumping of the Bible.

5 comments about Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century.

1. It was truly wonderful to read David's biographies of these great souls. There is quite a warts-and-all documentary style to this, but I really felt that I got into the lives of the people. For instance, I felt like I got a better picture of Billy Graham from the one chapter on him here than I did from the whole of Graham's autobiography.

   Full disclosure: I know David a little, we go to church together. But it's STILL a great book. I hope you can still find it around.




2. What a wonderful book! I have the privilege of knowing the author, and I can say that Dr. Aikman has not only unveiled six great souls for our benefit, but has exposed the greatness of his own.



3. I really want to thank Mr. Aikman for this book. It illustrates the way a pure soul can be used by God to accomplish things beyond anyone's expectations. The author masterfully weaves anecdotes, interviews and biographical information to connect us in a unique way to these great people. I came away inspired to try and carry away remnants of each of these wonderful people. Thank you for such a masterful work. It is profound in so many ways.



4. I really want to thank Mr. Aikman for this book. It illustrates the way a pure soul can be used by God to accomplish things beyond anyone's expectations. The author masterfully weaves anecdotes, interviews and biographical information to connect us in a unique way to these great people. I came away inspired to try and carry away remnants of each of these wonderful people. Thank you for such a masterful work. It is profound in so many ways.



5. Great Souls: Six Who Changed the Century is undoubtedly one of the best collections of biographies I have read in years. In an era where celebrities are designated "heroes" and fifty or so men in New Orleans are called "Saints", it is refreshing - no it's inspiring - to read about five men and a woman whose attitudes and actions had a profound and positive effect on this century. David Aikman, a talented foreign correspondent for Time Magazine turned writer, has done a superb job capturing, in a few pages, the extraordinary lives and accomplishments of Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Pope John Paul II, Elie Wiesel and Nelson Mandela. If you are looking for perfect people, you won't find them in Aikman's book. What you will find, however, are six individuals who again and again, rose above their times and circumstances to change, if only for a brief time, the course of human events. Aikman's astute observations into the worldly and spiritual lives of these great souls hold important lessons for all of us today. Mother Teresa's inexhaustible compassion for the poorest of the poor, Nelson Mandela's amazing capacity to forgive, Billy Graham's urgent quest for salvation for the human soul, Solzhenitsyn's implacable pursuit of the truth, Pope John Paul's passion for human dignity and Eli Wiesel's constant reminders of the profound wickedness that lurks in the hearts of men, these are some of the lessons in store for those who read this enjoyable and inspirational book. Perhaps the best chapter is the last. Here Aikman uses Eli Wiesel's compelling and tragic story to inquire into the nature of evil. Was Adolph Hitler a charismatic but misguided despot or Satan incarnate? Was the Holocaust "a mutation on a cosmic scale" or "merely the natural shoots watered by Europe's longtime subterranean lake of anti-Semitism"? As we move from this millennium to the next, hopefully the brilliant lights of these great souls will illuminate the answers to these questions and be a lamp unto the uncertain path that lies before us.

   rlrodriguez@ucdavis.edu

No comments about The Elusive Mr. Wesley.

4 comments about The Life of Marpa the Translator: Seeing Accomplishes All.

1. Marpa holds a rare and special place in the pantheon of historical Tibetan gurus as he is considered a father of tantric Buddhism in Tibet, particularly that of the Kagyu tradition (a practice lineage today headed by H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Thaye Dorje). Marpas story is particularly relevant for Buddhist of today as he was a lay practitioner - as opposed to a monk - and thus proved that the highest realizations are achievable without the impositions of celebacy and monastic asceticism.
   
   The book details his remarkable life and quest for enlightenment finally achieved through an unshakable faith in his teacher, the great Indian Mahasiddha Naropa. Marpa made three visits to India and spent a dozen years with Naropa to finally receive and realize the full breadth of the tantric teachings, the same teachings which he then translated, carried with him to Tibet, and transmitted to other great Tibetan saints such as Milarepa.
   
   The story is by Western standards highly unusual and may be difficult to follow for non-Buddhists, although the translation is exceedingly clear considering the complexity of the content. Fortunately the book includes an outstanding glossary at the end, which comprehensively explains most of the important Buddhist concepts used in the narrative. This glossary is probably the best I have seen in terms of scope and content (incidentally it was written by the late great Chogyam Trungpa as was the preface).
   
   On the other hand it is quite possible to enjoy the book as a tale of adventure and discovery with a spiritual twist, if one is not too taken aback by the use of technical terms in sanskrit and a host of Buddist concepts that may be difficult grasp.
   
   For all Buddhist the book is clearly a must-read and very highly recommended.



2. Marpa the Translator brought Indian Tantric Buddhist traditions to Tibet and founded the Kagyu lineage. This biography deals with Marpa's journeys to India, his travails, his apprenticeship with Naropa and other Buddhist masters and his life and teachings in Tibet.
   
   It recounts how Marpa's persistence helped him secure knowledge of Tantric tradtions and later spread Buddhism in Tibet. It details his relationship with his teachers like Naropa, Kukuripa, and others, particularly the special spiritual relationship he shared with Naropa.
   
   The story of his journeys and apprenticeship is filled with interesting anecdotes, songs and humour and yet captures the spiritual essence of the teachings. Marpa literally sings his way to Tibet and back and breaks into songs (quite beautiful ones) to explain his learning or to acknowledge his humility.
   
   Much of the later part of the book deals with his teachings in Tibet and revolves around his relationship with his disciples, his son, and his wife and the tragic story of his son's death which lead to his attainment of a higher understanding of transcendce of all things and universal compassion.
   
   The biography contains beautiful descriptions of the transference of the soul from one body to another, travels, sceneries, and spiritual experiences. The book is free from heavy philosophical jargon and explains Tantric philosophy in a lucid manner.



3. Adventure, courageous effort, dedication, humor, tragedy, magic, and enlightenment. Must reading for anyone interested in Tibetan Buddhism and Tantra in particular. Read the biographies of Naropa and Milarepa to get a larger picture of this lineage of masters. For those involved in Dharma practice reading these biographies gives a clearer sense of what hard practice is, and what a life in Dharma may be like for sincere practitioners. It is always refreshing to hear about the actions and words of truely clear headed masters.



4. Nearly every spiritual aspirant has read about Milarepa, the master yogi of Tibet. Now there is information about his guru Marpa, the translater and actually importer of Buddhism from India to Tibet. Marpa stands in the lineage of Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa and then the Karmapas. But Marpa was no regular saint or yogi. He was married and had an awkward personality. His tough and difficult character made it possible to persevere unbearable hardships of traveling, finding a guru in a remote country and following that gurus path. And it was no easy task to become accepted by Naropa as a pupil. And it was no easier to deal with his own pupil Milarepa. Marpas power has proved to outlast history: The Karmapas are still around and they are no easier to deal with today.

1 comments about The Soul of the Story: Meetings With Remarkable People.

1. There are many different ways of telling a life- story.One is through encounters or meetings with significant others, often teachers. This is the method David Zeller chooses to relate his quest for deeper spiritual understanding.
   The child of a Jungian therapist he at an early age initiated a meeting with Jung. And Western psychology Carl Rogers, Maslow remain a part of his background. But the greatest part of his quest and his focus is on remarkable, non- conventional spiritual teachers. And these he meets in abundance especially in his wanderings in India. Among the teachers he meets are Sai Baba, Sri Pad, Swami Hariharananda. These teachers are tremendously influential, but the single great teacher , guru , master, Rebbe of Zeller's life is the heilegen Reb Shlomo Carlebach.
   Carlebach more than any other teacher puts Zeller in touch with his own Jewishness. And the meeting with Reb Shlomo is decisive in Zeller's spiritual path. Reb Shlomo is the 'mesader Kedushin' at Zeller's marriage to his wife Elana. It is Elana, the mother of Zeller's first three children, who makes the decision to move the family to the religious community of Efrat in Israel. Elana death from cancer is the most painful part of this book.
   In a chapter subtitled 'Life After Death' Zeller movingly tells of his meeting Hannah- Sara, who would restore his soul, and be the mother of his youngest- child.
   This book has much for spiritual questing souls , both in its description of the characters he meets along the way, and Zeller's own spiritual development. And it is highly recommended on this basis.
   Zeller is one of a remarkable group of pupils who were inspired by the great Reb Shlomo Carlebach. Among them was my own holy teacher, his master joker and humorist, the person who more than anyone else I have ever known could lift the soul of every person he meet, the great Reb Dovid Herzberg. He like Zeller was again one of the many remarkable souls who Reb Shlomo inspired and uplifted on their own spiritual paths.
   May the light of these holy teachers shine more strongly in Israel , and for the redemption of all Mankind.
   Amen.

No comments about In the Beginning Was the Ghetto: Notebooks from Lodz (Jewish Lives).

1 comments about The Sacred Trust: Sketches of the Southern Baptist Convention Presidents.

1. Dr. Caner has assembled a great resource about the history of the SBC presidents. The book proves to be a valuable addition to any library. You will use it over and over when creating sermons, classes, and to simply develop your knowledge. Great work by a great author!