Stock options and high earnings are no replacement for a sense of meaning and purpose for one's life. Living in a society whose "bottom line" is "looking out for number one" has undermined friendships, made relationships difficult, produced alienation and loneliness-and has been used to justify corporate social irresponsibility and environmental destructiveness. Selfishness and materialism permeate our relationships in work and in personal life, while we are taught to keep our spiritual life and our moral vision away from the public sphere. Spirit Matters shows how deeply we've been hurt personally, emotionally, ecologically, and politically by living in a world that systematically represses our spiritual needs-and how we might create a personal life and society that embodies what Michael Lerner describes as an Emancipatory Spirituality. It is a spirituality that affirms that there is enough, that generosity, atonement, joy, and celebration of the grandeur of the universe can be basic building blocks in constructing our own lives together. Spirit Matters demonstrates that the time is now to stop compromising with a world whose fundamentals are so far from our own highest values and begin to create the world we privately tell ourselves we really believe in. Don't be misled by the easy and accessible style of Lerner's writings: Spirit Matters is a profound new contribution to social theory and spiritual practice, and a new framework for thinking about childhood, loving relationships, the world of work, politics, law, education, and ecology. It is on the cutting edge of contemporary thought and yet speaks to the heart and soul. Spirit Matters speaks both to people who have tended to think that "spirit" is an empty category for religious zealots or a reactionary tool of repression, as well as to those who take spirituality seriously in their personal lives but who have yet realized that their spiritual practice could be the basis for a fundamental transformation of the world.

In This Beautiful Book, Steve Green - founder of The Museum of the Bible - highlights life-changing themes woven through the mosaic of the Bible's various stories, reveals a new way to engage Scripture as a whole, and inspires deep appreciation for the Bible's connection to your life. The most popular and culture-shaping text in the world, the Bible is still the least understood book of all time. The Bible's collection of history, poetry, genealogy lists, and mystifying prophecies often prove puzzling to readers. And when this text is read in pieces, we're left with only a half-impression of the vibrant mosaic. This Beautiful Book highlights the thematic threads woven throughout the ancient writings and shows us a new way to engage with Scripture as a whole. Through insights gained from firsthand experiences in leading and developing the first world class Bible museum, Green invites readers to step back from the individual stories of the Bible and consider the Bible as a whole. He reveals the completeness, connection, and transformative power of Scripture. Along with stunning retellings of biblical stories, Green helps readers see the story within the story, and draws the careful connections that help us appreciate the richness of the Bible story as a single story. Each page will spark or embolden your faith in a God who speaks to us across the centuries. A truly captivating experience, this book will instill in you a deep appreciation for Scripture and its profound connection to your own life story.

This is the most comprehensive book to date on the techniques of icon and wall painting. Illustrated with over 450 colour photos and 180 drawings, it will be a source of pleasure and inspiration for the general reader as well as for the practising icon painter. The book is more than just a technical manual; it sets artistic practice in the context of the Church's spirituality and liturgy, with chapters on the theology and history of the icon, the role and symbolism of the iconostasis, and the principles behind the positioning of wall paintings within churches. The wealth of information in this book makes it an indispensable reference text, not only for iconographers but also for any painter working in egg tempera, fresco or secco. All the necessary processes are covered, including the making gessoing of wooden panels, gilding, preparing pigments, lime plastering and fresco, the various techniques for painting in tempera, right through to photographing the finished artwork. -- from dust jacket.

More than a decluttering guide, this book “speaks to the heart and soul of the minimalist lifestyle . . . a must-have manual for serenity in the modern world!” (Anne Sage, author of Sage Living). For anyone looking to declutter, organize, and simplify, author Erin Boyle shares practical guidance and personal insights on small-space living and conscious consumption. At once pragmatic and philosophical, Simple Matters is an essential manual for anyone who wants to bring more purpose and sustainability to their daily lives. Boyle demonstrates how the benefits of “living small” are accessible to us all—whether we’re renting a tiny apartment or purchasing a three-story house. Filled with personal essays, projects, and helpful advice on how to be inventive and resourceful in a tight space, Simple Matters shows that living simply is about making do with less and ending up with more: more free time, more time with loved ones, more savings, and more things of beauty.

Illuminating the significance of De Staebler's practice as never before, this book analyzes the artist's major pieces.

Why is God's beauty often absent from our theology? Rarely do theologians take up the theme of God's beauty—even more rarely do they consider how God's beauty should shape the task of theology itself. But the psalmist says that the heart of the believer's desire is to behold the beauty of the Lord. In The Beauty of the Lord, Jonathan King restores aesthetics as not merely a valid lens for theological reflection, but an essential one. Jesus, our incarnate Redeemer, displays the Triune God's beauty in his actions and person, from creation to final consummation. How can and should theology better reflect this unveiled beauty? The Beauty of the Lord is a renewal of a truly aesthetic theology and a properly theological aesthetics.