books tagged “Hope”

Philip Yancey has a gift for articulating the knotty issues of faith. In Disappointment with God, he poses three questions that Christians wonder but seldom ask aloud: Is God unfair? Is he silent? Is he hidden? This insightful and deeply personal book points to the odd disparity between our concept of God and the realities of life. Why, if God is so hungry for relationship with us, does he seem so distant? Why, if he cares for us, do bad things happen? What can we expect from him after all? Yancey answers these questions with clarity, richness, and biblical assurance. He takes us beyond the things that make for disillusionment to a deeper faith, a certitude of God's love, and a thirst to reach not just for what God gives, but for who he is. [via]

Newly appointed Naval Commandant Nicholas Seafort's past unexpectedly catches up with him when an evil politician blackmails him into giving up his commission. But then an alien attack revives Nick's career, and soon he will lead Earth's defenses against annihilation. Alone at the center of a cosmic apocalypses, Nick will face his most challenging battle. [via]

A classic resource, this book describes what happens to us whenever we lose someone or something important. It can be used over the years as individuals encounter a wider variety of grief experiences or as they assist friends in moving beyond grief to good grief. Examines the stages of grief, from stage one - a state of shock - to stage ten - a struggle to affirm reality. [via]

When The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939, America, still recovering from the Great Depression, came face to face with itself in a startling, lyrical way. John Steinbeck gathered the country's recent shames and devastations--the Hoovervilles, the desperate, dirty children, the dissolution of kin, the oppressive labor conditions--in the Joad family. Then he set them down on a westward-running road, local dialect and all, for the world to acknowledge. For this marvel of observation and perception, he won the Pulitzer in 1940.

The prize must have come, at least in part, because alongside the poverty and dispossession, Steinbeck chronicled the Joads' refusal, even inability, to let go of their faltering but unmistakable hold on human dignity. Witnessing their degeneration from Oklahoma farmers to a diminished band of migrant workers is nothing short of crushing. The Joads lose family members to death and cowardice as they go, and are challenged by everything from weather to the authorities to the California locals themselves. As Tom Joad puts it: "They're a-workin' away at our spirits. They're a tryin' to make us cringe an' crawl like a whipped bitch. They tryin' to break us. Why, Jesus Christ, Ma, they comes a time when the on'y way a fella can keep his decency is by takin' a sock at a cop. They're workin' on our decency."

The point, though, is that decency remains intact, if somewhat battle-scarred, and this, as much as the depression and the plight of the "Okies," is a part of American history. When the California of their dreams proves to be less than edenic, Ma tells Tom: "You got to have patience. Why, Tom--us people will go on livin' when all them people is gone. Why, Tom, we're the people that live. They ain't gonna wipe us out. Why, we're the people--we go on." It's almost as if she's talking about the very novel she inhabits, for Steinbeck's characters, more than most literary creations, do go on. They continue, now as much as ever, to illuminate and humanize an era for generations of readers who, thankfully, have no experiential point of reference for understanding the depression. The book's final, haunting image of Rose of Sharon--Rosasharn, as they call her--the eldest Joad daughter, forcing the milk intended for her stillborn baby onto a starving stranger, is a lesson on the grandest scale. "'You got to,'" she says, simply. And so do we all. --Melanie Rehak [via]

Find hope to press on . . .

Hope to endure . . .

Hope to stay focused . . .

Hope to see dreams fulfilled . . .

Hope is more than mere wishful thinking. Hope is a vital necessity of lifea gift that God wants to give to you. And in a world that regularly writes dreams off as foolish and drains the hope from the heart with dark pessimism, Hope Again is a voice crying in the wilderness . . . a word of enthusiasm for life in the midst of any difficult situation you are in.

Combining the New Testament teachings of Peter and the insights of one of the most popular authors of our day, Hope Again is an encouraging, enlivening, and refreshing look at why we can dare to hope no matter who we are, no matter what we face.

As Charles Swindoll says, "If you want to smile through your tears, if you want to rejoice through times of suffering, just keep reminding yourself that what you're going through isn't the end of the story, it's simply the rough journey that leads to the right destination."

Whether you've experienced pain, loss, or disappointment you can learn to hope again by finding God's purpose through suffering. Hope Again provides answers to life's really tough questions. It also reminds us that when we are at our lowest, Christ stands ready to restore us. [via]

Hope's theme of life, moving through seeming death to a new and more beautiful life, has touched the hearts of millions of people. Hope for the Flowers is for young and old, lovers, husbands and wives. It's a book to learn to read with, or to comfort those who are dying or grieving. In the tale, the caterpillar heroes, Stripe and Yellow, want something more from life than eating and growing bigger. They get caught up in a "caterpillar pillar," a squirming mass of bodies, each determined to reach a top so far away it can't be seen. Finally disillusioned, they discover that the way for the caterpillars to find their particular "more," who they really are, is to enter the cocoon and "...risk for the butterfly." Hope for the Flowers has helped people gain the courage to leave jobs, change their lives and explore their love for another human being. Two million copies in print. [via]

"What is the difference between the paraplegic woman with the smile that lights a room and the millionaire with a suicide wish?" asks Billy Graham. "Or what makes one person accept and keep his balance during a painful time, and another become a self-pitying whiner?" Hope for the Troubled Heart: Finding God in the Midst of Pain is Graham's attempt to answer those questions and the larger question that underlies them: why, in a world full of pain, should people hope, and not despair? Perhaps the most powerful thing about Hope for the Troubled Heart is the sheer number of its heartbreaking stories about people suffering from abuse, loneliness, sickness, emptiness, financial ruin and other calamities. Nearly every reader will find something to relate to here. Graham's stories do not stop at desolation, however. They press further, to show how suffering people find solace in the Bible, in the love of other believers and in the hope of heaven. What Graham offers in this book is a reason to be patient, a reason to believe that the forces of destruction need not have the last word in human life. "A few more days may dawn and darken and we will know the unending day", he writes. "A few brief years, or brief moments, and we shall enter that eternal city, sit in the shadow of the Tree of Life, and drink the crystal clear water. We have only had a foretaste on earth of what it means to love and be loved". That, in the end, is the greatest reason for hope that Graham offers. --Kevin Attwood [via]

5 stories in one the grapes of wrath the moon is down cannery row east of eden of mice and men [via]

Harold Bloom writes, "The Grapes of Wrath is a flawed but permanent American book." John Steinbeck's novel, still popular a half-century after its original publication, is the focus of this edition of Bloom's Notes. Along with a collection of some of the best criticism available on his work, this text includes a brief biography of the author, structural and thematic analysis, an index of themes and ideas, and more. This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School. These texts are the ideal aid for all students of literature, presenting concise, easy-to-understand biographical, critical, and bibliographical information on a specific literary work. Also provided are multiple sources for book reports and term papers with a wealth of information on literary works, authors, and major characters. [via]

71 pages. Nombreux dessins en couleurs dans le texte et hors texte de WILLI GLASAUER. Ouvrage de bibliothèque avec une couverture plastique transparente sur la couverture originale.Tampons de biblioth [via]

To commemorate Chelsea Green Publishing's anniversary of the cloth-bound edition of Jean Giono's classic tale we proudly present a paperback edition with added information on how to become a WoodWise consumer.Jean Giono's tale of Elzard Bouffier, the intrepid tree planter who single-handedly reforests a barren section of southern France, is here placed in an exciting new context. In addition to creating new forests by tree-planting, we can have a direct effect on their survival through our prudent use of wood products.This special edition has been prepared with the assistance of Co-op America, a nonprofit organization whose WoodWise campaign protects our forest resources by raising consumer awareness of alternatives to wasteful consumption. A supplemental chapter provides information, suggestions, and tips. Readers will find the tools to locate sources for tree-free paper, tackle unwanted junk mail, conserve at home and the office, and recognize environmentally sound wood products. Responsible actions such as these will contribute directly to the conservation of sustainable forests.The original, cloth-bound edition of "The Man Who Planted Trees" with Michael McCurdy's glorious woodcuts was published by Chelsea Green in 1985, and remains in print. We also offer products, including notecards, videos, and audiotapes, inspired by Giono's story. [via]

In 1941 England, when all hope was threatened by the inhumanity of war, C. S. Lewis was invited to give a series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity. More than half a century later, these talks continue to retain their poignancy. First heard as informal radio broadcasts on the BBC, the lectures were published as three books and subsequently combined as Mere Christianity. C. S. Lewis proves that "at the center of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks with the same voice," rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations. This twentieth century masterpiece provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith.

With a new foreword by Lewis's stepson, Douglas Gresham, this illustrated gift edition evokes the historic time and place of the book's creation.

"Mere Christianity" is C.S. Lewis's forceful and accesible doctrine of Christian belief. First heard as informal radio broadcasts and then published as three seperate books - "The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior" and "Beyond Personality - Mere Christianity" brings together what Lewis sees as the fundamental truths of the religion. Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations, C.S. Lewis finds a common ground on which all those who have Christian faith can stand together, proving that "at the centre of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks the same voice." [via]

The enchantment of the holidays meets the pure storytelling genius of New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice, as she presents readers with a special gift for the season and a Christmas classic in the making&

On a quaint, snowy Chelsea street, librarian Catherine Tierney and a widowed Christmas tree seller from Nova Scotia will rediscover the magic of the season where they least expect it: in a chance encounter that leads to a holiday surprise of love and hope powerful enough to last a lifetime. [via]

A classic of modern theatre and perennial favorite of colleges and high schools. "One of the most noble and moving plays of our generation . . . suffused with tenderness for the whole human perplexity . . . like a sharp stab of beauty and pain".--The London Times. [via]

Subtitled "A tragicomedy in two Acts", and famously described by the Irish critic Vivien Mercier as a play in which 'nothing happens, twice', "En attendant Godot" was first performed at the Theatre de Babylone in Paris in 1953. It was translated into English by Samuel Beckett, and "Waiting for Godot" opened at the Arts Theatre in London in 1955. 'Go and see "Waiting for Godot". At the worst you will discover a curiosity, a four-leaved clover, a black tulip; at the best something that will securely lodge in a corner of your mind for as long as you live' - Harold Hobson, 7 August 1955. 'I told him that if by Godot I had meant God I would have said God, and not Godot. This seemed to disappoint him greatly' - Samuel Beckett, 1955. [via]

A seminal work of twentieth-century drama, Waiting for Godot was Samuel Beckett's first professionally produced play. It opened in Paris in 1953 at the tiny Left Bank Theatre de Babylone, and has since become a cornerstone of twentieth-century theater. The story line revolves around two seemingly homeless men waiting for someone-or something-named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree on a barren stretch of road, inhabiting a drama spun from their own consciousness. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as a somber summation of mankind's inexhaustible search for meaning. Beckett's language pioneered an expressionistic minimalism that captured the existentialism of post-World War II Europe. His play remains one of the most magical and beautiful allegories of our time. [via]

There is a glory to life that most people-including believers-never see. In this insightful new book, John Eldredge presents the heart as central to life. Not only is the heart essential; the heart God has ransomed is also good. Building on these foundational truths, Eldredge shows readers why real Christianity is a process of restoration, where the broken parts of our hearts are mended and the captive parts are set free.

Waking the Dead leads listeners to understand how to live from the heart, care for their heart like the treasures of the kingdom, and give from fullness instead of emptiness. This message also shows how living from the heart can energize people to love God and others in a way they've never experienced, revealing to them life's purpose: fighting for the hearts of others.

Winner of the Gold Medallion Award and an inspirational best-seller for over twenty years, Where is God When it Hurts? Has been revised and updated by the author to explore the many important issues that have arisen during that time. Sensitive and caring, this unique book discusses pain--physical, emotional, and spiritual--and helps us understand why we suffer from it and how to cope with our own and that of others. Using examples from the Bible as well as the author's personal experiences, this expanded edition speaks to everyone for whom life sometimes doesn't make sense. Philip Yancey can help us discover how to reach out to someone in pain even when we don't know what to say. It shows us how we can learn to accept without blame, anger, or fear that which we cannot understand. [via]