The Shack

The Shack
by William P. Young (Author)

Reading "The Shack" was like a breath of fresh air. "Mack's" conversations with God were a confirmation to me of what I've experienced of God's kind of love as I've chosen to participate with Him in the process of exposing my own selfishness, lack of love and very bad and wrong beliefs and attitudes. I could do this because God did His part in wooing me with His lack of condemnation, His willingness to accept me as I am, and showing me how He loves. I've worked for many years with the deeply wounded.

Time after time, I have witnessed God revealing Himself and His kind of love to them in their healing process very much the same way Mack was healed as described in "The Shack". I'm sure those who want to keep God in their box of human limitations and understanding will have a very difficult time believing that this is truly the God who makes Himself known to us through His Word, as well as by His Spirit through our human spirit, or that He would actually have conversations with us like He had with Mack. What an awesome God He/She is.

Why is it that we humans think we have all the answers about who, what, and where God is? Perhaps that is one of the most blasphemous mistakes we can make--labeling and defining the God above all gods. With that said, why would anyone be upset when new descriptions and definitions and understandings are given to God? One of the things we do know is that we don't know all about God.

This book, The Shack, disrupts all we have learned about God and suggests new ideas about God--what a healthy thing to do. Anything that might expand our concept of God is healthy and healing. I believe that is why so many people have found this book so refreshing to their faith. If people find new meaning in Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit because of this book, don't condemn it--praise it. Do we have all the answers? I think not. Let's reach outside the box. That is what the author Young has done, and I think he has done a good job of it. There is a section in the book on judging. Maybe we should all go read that part again. As Tita used to say, "Everyone to their own religion, and God will take care of us all in the end."

The Noble Wilds

The Noble Wilds
by The Supreme Master Ching Hai (Author)

With a rhythmic, meditative tone, the words of The Noble Wilds flow gracefully along the pages, complemented by the luminous photos of God s creations in nature. Turning the pages, one is transported to Amoura, the place where the lady lives and is visited by cherished beings of the wild. The lady is none other than Supreme Master Ching Hai, and The Noble Wilds is yet another of Her simple but deeply touching gifts.

Written, photographed and compiled personally by Master, this precious gem opens the door to a world of unique beauty. Here, the reader can witness firsthand the noble spirit and dedication of our co-inhabitants whose homes are under the open sky the swan, the goose, the squirrel, the beaver and even a tiny garden snail. Although generally shy of humans, these animals allow themselves to be photographed, and indeed can even be seen eagerly approaching the lady s gentle offering of favorite foods. The love conveyed is unlike any other full of dignity and grace, yet as deep and enduring as the eternal. All books are printed by ''Soy Ink for Environmental protection''. Such ink is not only nontoxic but also very helpful for environment of the mother earth which is an good example of ''time to act''....

The Noble Wilds is so beautiful and touch me deeply. Let me understand the animals are so noble, compassionate and sensitive like us. We should love them and live with them peacefuly and harmoniously in this planet. Thank to the auther to share with us this heavenly gift.

The Power of Now

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
by Eckhart Tolle (Author)

I picked up "The Power of Now" in the "New Age" section of the bookstore. I was determined to make the reading about "spirituality" a short episode in my life... and I was probably right, as far as the reading goes, that is.

I got the book and continued reading at home, and, as I often do with study guides and textbooks, started underlining what seemed most important. Soon it became harder to separate the important from the unimportant, because it all seemed important! Then, I stopped, put down the pencil and said: "Wow!"

Where did this book come from? Why aren't we hearing about it on CNN? Reading it felt strange at first, as it demanded my total attention: either I was drawn deep into it, or not at all. Do you like to eat while reading? Well, this book will make you feel ridiculous if you try to eat and read at the same time!

The book showed me that I have a pretty thick mold of the mind to break through, and it took me very far on the first day, even farther after that. The message went beyond what I would probably recognize on my own. After all, I was (and still am but to a lesser degree) one of those constant thinkers who mistakenly believe that it's good to think all the time but almost never stop to see, hear and feel the essence of being. Although the message in the book seems familiar and simple, in the end it provided exhaustive answers to the few questions that I had and also those that I wouldn't have thought of before. Amazingly, it also managed not to raise new ones. What it did was grab me by lapels and put me into the present moment. Over and over again, it told me what it means, how to enter it, offered a few different methods, and suggested that with practice many opportunities exist to enter it.

Another point is that once I finished the book, its message lingered (may I say "in my mind" here?). The author's obvious and at the same time subtly effective, repetitive approach somehow kept reassuring me that I was absorbing and remembering the material. The text never strayed far from the core of the message, which seemed to stick with vivid clarity.

I soon began to practice shifting myself into this state of intense concentration, and it feels strange and alluring at the same time, this detachment from the mind. At first, I could only do it while being completely relaxed, just before falling asleep. Later, it became easier to do along with other daily activities. Don't worry; you will not get hit by a truck while crossing the street and trying to focus into the Now! Also, the people at work will not laugh at you because you look weird trying to focus, but they may notice a difference in you: that you are relaxed, focused and less confrontational (because you are surrendered to the present moment). The most immediate effect for me was that focusing into the present moment helped me communicate better. I began to listen more intensely, meaningfully and less judgmentally than before.

However, I feel that this is only the tip of an iceberg. Trying to be in the Now has inspired me more than any miracle. At the same time, it's clear that learning to live in the Now is a skill, and like any skill it can be enhanced with practice. The more you work at it, the better and more natural you get doing it.

In short, I don't need to search for the truth anymore. I got lucky on the first try, by becoming a little curious with the book that seemed unassuming and light in physical weight. Thank you, Eckhart. NOW, I can be at peace, knowing how much I can look forward to in this life, and beyond.

Unaccustomed Earth

Unaccustomed Earth
by Jhumpa Lahiri (Author)

With UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, Jhumpa Lahiri can lay claim with good reason to being the finest short story writer in America today. This book, her second collection of short stories with the full-length novel THE NAMESAKE sandwiched between, is a masterful collection of affecting tales about family life and individual self-discovery. While Lahiri's focus is relentlessly drawn toward what might be termed the "Bengali-American experience," her stories express rich underlying elements of universality, allowing them to transcend the mere "new American immigrant" genre. She shows yet again that she is a marvelous craftswoman of the short story art form and its language (words, imagery, and symbolism).

UNACCUSTOMED EARTH is eight stories, divided into two sections. The first section contains five distinct short stories, beginning with the near-novella length title story that is certainly the collection's finest. In that piece, a daughter of Indian descent, Ruma, welcomes her unexpectedly widowered father with trepidation to her new home in Seattle. Ruma is married to a Caucasian named Adam, and they have a young son named Akash. In every respect the young family is a model of mixed marriage and, in Ruma's case, full cultural assimilation. Nevertheless, her father's visit promises to force Ruma to confront the inevitable fissures that appear between first and second generation immigrant families. Travel to new countries or settling into new lands, postcards of foreign places, the soil in gardening, and measurement of distances all serve in symbolic support to the story's title, but it is a simple misplaced and unmailed postcard that pulls everything together into a poignant ending.

Lahiri's other four stories in the first section have similar themes. In "Hell-Heaven," a young woman recalls her childhood when a fellow Bengali became a family friend and part of her (and, surprisingly, her mother's) life. In "A Choice of Accommodation," (another title laden with multiple meanings), a middle-aged, mixed marriage couple (Amit and Megan) rediscover themselves and a bit of their previously unstated history during a friend's wedding held at Amit's old boarding school. In "Only Goodness," a model Bengali daughter named Sudha, married and a new mother, tries to cope with her younger brother Rahul's alcoholic failings and her likely role in making him what he has become. Of all the characters in this book, it is Rahul who comes across most powerfully.

There is nothing flashy about author Jhumpa Lahiri's writing. It's simply true. She writes flawlessly about secrets held close, about heartbreak and regret. At the end of each of these quiet stories, you feel an emotional wallop.

The characters invariably include a person or persons of Indian descent -- usually a Bengali. I was unfamiliar with Indian culture when I began reading Unaccustomed Earth, but it didn't hurt my enjoyment or understanding. The stories are universal. You only need to be human to relate to the characters and their situations.

The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch (Author), Jeffrey Zaslow (Author)

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
--Randy Pausch

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

The Secret

The Secret
by Rhonda Byrne (Author)

The book assumes that everyone who wants to can access good feelings at a moments notice and encourages you to shun people who don't fit your physical or emotional ideal. For many people, especially those from emotionally or financially impoverished backgrounds, feelings of abundance and self-worth can be impossible to access. A few years ago I encountered a book by the social psychologist William Swann. His studies on the affect that self-esteem has on what you attract into your life make very interesting reading that is closely related to the topics discussed here. While forgetting the past is not that hard, creating a feeling that you didn't have while growing up is nearly impossible for most people. Yes, we do hear of rags to riches stories, but they almost always involve a pivotal personal encounter.

The secret helped me tremendously, it's basically thinking positive. Whatever you choose to think you shall bring upon yourself. An example could be with a young man wanting to talk to a gorgeous girl, if he THINKS positive and that he has confidence it will reflect in his actions and he can have anyone he wants. Whereas if he thinks negatively he will attract negative objects and reations. This book he me significantly.

Perhaps there is a reason that this information has been kept a secret for so long. Maybe that reason is that too many people would have used the knowledge to abandon the sick, dying, and less fortunate and spend their time generating new toys and bigger and bigger houses. Religion has often existed to remind people that they should be grateful for not having adversity. If you can wish it away, why bother with those who can't? This whole scenario reminds me of the creation story told by the psychic, Edgar Cayce, many decades ago. He said that man was an angel who created matter as a plaything and became encased in it because he forgot his divinity. I see no spiritual problem with having it all, but that can and should include kindness and compassion toward everyone.

Mistaken Identity

Mistaken Identity : Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope
by Don & Susie Van Ryn (Author), Newell, Colleen & Whitney Cerak (Author), Mark Tabb (Contributor)

If you can think what is the most outrageous unbelievable story you heard in your lifetime, it has to be this, the daughter you buried is not yours, and the injured daughter you nursed for five weeks was not yours. Although tragedies often evolve into miracles, this combination was never meant to be.

After a tragic accident on an Indiana highway, two blond girls of similar features were mistaken for one another. Whitney Cerak lived but was comatose, while Laura Van Ryn actually died, but was sent to the hospital to be treated. Misidentification! It was a result coroner's carelessness, and with that, unimaginable consequences upon two families.

Mistaken Identity, written with help of author Mark Tabb, starts with the section about the events of discovery, on the Cerak's part, that their daughter may be alive. Then, the story begins and reveals extensive detail of care by the Van Ryns who believed their daughter was alive, but was hurt badly. This is simple and non-pretentious writing, because it is merely your average God-loving families with deep religious faith.

Connecting with the readers
As you read, you begin to really understand the two families, their feelings, fears, surprises, stamina, hope, faith, etc. And if you are unfamiliar with their dedicated passages, you too, can learn and be inspired. Read Laura's sister Lisa's amazing faithful internet blog for updates and then you have Susie Van Ryn's touching prayer journal. Learn about the emotional passages said during the Cerak funeral.

Compassionate People
You will learn the true compassion of strangers, the offering of the Samaritan house to the Van Ryns; the couple who owned the pizza shop and brought so much pizza and bottled water to ICU. You will hear how the Van Ryns were surprised their neighbors cut the grass while the family was bedside to Laura. You will learn how the Ceraks through their grief received so many flowers, food, cookies, notes, cards and how they sat and listened intently to each of many phone messages offering comfort.

False Parents
I had to laugh at what Don Van Ryn said when he learned that his Laura referred to them as false parents. With that, you feel compassion for this family as they wrestled with the phrase "false parents."

And then, share in the exchange of discovery that changed their lives, and the miracle of the Ceraks that could only be dreadful tragedy for the Van Ryns.

Mistaken Identity,This is a wonderful story that Hollywood could not have dreamed up! I have children, I feel for these amazing people, all of them.