"May our love for the Sun, the will of God, be as strong as the sunflower's, so that even in days of hardship and sorrow we will continue to sail unerringly along the sea of life, following the directions of the barometer and compass of God's will that leads us to the safe haven of eternity." This is a thoroughly practical manual of the spiritual life focusing on the central goal of every Christian: learning the will of God and struggling to mold our life to it, just as Christ "humbled Himself and became obedient." (Phil. 2:8) Even more fundamentally, St John addresses the question of why we should care about God's will. Finally, the reader will find eternal wisdom running through these writings on questions of theodicy, free will, and Divine Providence. This work is reminiscent of the classic text Unseen Warfare in its historical genesis as an Orthodox redaction of an originally Roman Catholic text. First published in 1627 as The Heliotropium it was the work of a German Jesuit writer Jeremias Drexelius. The future St John adapted this text for an Orthodox audience as a student and then teacher at the Kiev Academy in the 1670's but it was not published until 1714, just a year before the author's death. This is the first English edition of St John's text, further edited and abbreviated for the contemporary reader.

Follow the journey of a seed as it grows to be a beautiful sunflower and then dies back to the soil. Sunny is a celebration of the life cycle of a sunflower as it relates to our human experience. Sunny celebrates growth mindset and the spiritual nature and connectedness of all living things. This story hopes to be a celebratory gift for child birth, inspiration for teens, comfort for those who are facing death, and comfort for those who are grieving. Sunny celebrates life in all of its spiraling light and shadow. I hope that Sunny will inspire you to live with peace, passion, and gratitude for all that we have been given. Through following the life of a Sunflower and it's relationship to soil- Sunny is also a call to soil conservation, composting, and cultivating a brighter future.

A nuts-and-bolts approach on how to actualize the New Age concept of living in the present moment before conception, during pregnancy, throughout delivery and in the midst of postpartum motherhood for the busy woman who desires to do and have it all. Birth Formations: What Multiple Home Births Teach About Living, Laboring, and Mothering in the Now Encapsulates over ten years of practice in the holistic healing arts and alternative health field to tackle the sensitive and controversial note that all of our reality rests on our ability to think things through. The delicate and intense call of motherhood states unequivocally that: "You can't think your baby out." This book aims to break that one sentence down into doable parts. Part I: Beginnings This section targets preconceived notions about how to create our reality/birth/presence/experience. Parts II, III, IV: Births These sections illuminate the lessons the author has learned and include exercises to process and prepare for delivery and a more smooth integration of these principles in daily life. Part V: Beyond This section gives you permission to fly.