What can you do when you see bridges between people breaking down all around you? What should you do? Dr. Ron Higdon has served many congregations and taught seminars over many years, helping people to learn to reach out to one another, learn to work together, and to resolve differences through dialog. In this short, non-technical book, he calls on us all to take up the task of building bridges. This involves both a commitment of the heart, and actions in the world around us that tend to create peace. Peacemaking can be a dangerous profession, but Dr. Higdon sees it as a crucial part of Christian living and Christian ministry. But this book goes beyond peacemaking, and presents strategies for bridge building and reconciliation in all of our relationships. It is about building community and understanding that is possible even in the midst of different perspectives and points of view on critical issues. The goal is to enable reconstruction and renewal of damaged connections that have resulted in distrust, suspicion, and isolation. “Are you reconciled?” is perhaps the biggest question and the major challenge in many families, communities, and, certainly, in our nation. Our time calls for those who can bring us together and enable us to live with mutual respect and commitment to the common good. The goal of this book is to present a prescription for building bridges of possibility. Anyone who would like to work toward that goal, will benefit from reading and studying it.

From longtime New York Times columnist Bob Herbert comes a wrenching portrayal of ordinary Americans struggling for survival in a nation that has lost its way In his eighteen years as an opinion columnist for The New York Times, Herbert championed the working poor and the middle class. After filing his last column in 2011, he set off on a journey across the country to report on Americans who were being left behind in an economy that has never fully recovered from the Great Recession. The portraits of those he encountered fuel his new book, Losing Our Way. Herbert’s combination of heartrending reporting and keen political analysis is the purest expression since the Occupy movement of the plight of the 99 percent. The individuals and families who are paying the price of America’s bad choices in recent decades form the book’s emotional center: an exhausted high school student in Brooklyn who works the overnight shift in a factory at minimum wage to help pay her family’s rent; a twenty-four-year-old soldier from Peachtree City, Georgia, who loses both legs in a misguided, mismanaged, seemingly endless war; a young woman, only recently engaged, who suffers devastating injuries in a tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis; and a group of parents in Pittsburgh who courageously fight back against the politicians who decimated funding for their children’s schools. Herbert reminds us of a time in America when unemployment was low, wages and profits were high, and the nation’s wealth, by current standards, was distributed much more equitably. Today, the gap between the wealthy and everyone else has widened dramatically, the nation’s physical plant is crumbling, and the inability to find decent work is a plague on a generation. Herbert traces where we went wrong and spotlights the drastic and dangerous shift of political power from ordinary Americans to the corporate and financial elite. Hope for America, he argues, lies in a concerted push to redress that political imbalance. Searing and unforgettable, Losing Our Way ultimately inspires with its faith in ordinary citizens to take back their true political power and reclaim the American dream.

A renowned historian and engineer explores the past, present, and future of America's crumbling infrastructure. Acclaimed engineer and historian Henry Petroski explores our core infrastructure from both historical and contemporary perspectives, explaining how essential their maintenance is to America's economic health. Petroski reveals the genesis of the many parts of America's highway system--our interstate numbering system, the centerline that divides roads, and such taken-for-granted objects as guardrails, stop signs, and traffic lights--all crucial to our national and local infrastructure. A compelling work of history, The Road Taken is also an urgent clarion call aimed at American citizens, politicians, and anyone with a vested interest in our economic well-being. Physical infrastructure in the United States is crumbling, and Petroski reveals the complex and challenging interplay between government and industry inherent in major infrastructure improvement. The road we take in the next decade toward rebuilding our aging infrastructure will in large part determine our future national prosperity.

2019 Minnesota Book Award Finalist in Memoir & Creative Nonfiction “A bridge shouldn’t just fall down,” Senator Amy Klobuchar said after the August 1, 2007, collapse of the Minneapolis I-35W eight-lane steel truss bridge, which killed 13 motorists, injured 145, and left a collective wound on the city’s psyche and infrastructure. On her way to a soccer game with a fellow teammate, Kimberly J. Brown experienced the collapse firsthand, falling 114 feet in her teammate’s car to the Mississippi River. Although terrified, injured, and in shock, she survived. In this sobering memoir and exposé, Brown recounts her harrowing experience. In the aftermath of the disaster, Brown became both an advocate for survivors and an unofficial whistle-blower about decaying infrastructure. She details her investigation and correspondence with Thornton Tomasetti engineers, including the false official account of the collapse and the eventual revelation of its real causes. In addition, she chronicles the ongoing decay of America’s bridges and the continuing challenges faced by leaders to address infrastructure problems across the country. After nearly a decade of research into the collapse and her active and ongoing recovery from psychic and physical injuries, Brown shares her experience and answers the questions we should all be asking: Why did this bridge collapse? And what could have been done to prevent this tragedy?

“Love and Light” by Brenda Monteith Smith is an uplifting journey into the boundless power of love in our lives. With unwavering positivity and boundless enthusiasm, Smith invites readers to embrace love as the ultimate solution to life’s challenges. Through heartfelt anecdotes, insightful reflections, and practical advice, she illuminates the myriad ways love manifests itself – from the profound bonds of friendship to the healing embrace of self-acceptance. This book is not merely a call to arms but a gentle reminder that love is a feeling and a transformative force that can guide us through even the darkest times. With every turn of the page, readers are encouraged to tap into the wellspring of love within themselves to cultivate compassion, understanding, and forgiveness in their daily lives. Smith’s message is clear: love is not a passive emotion but an active choice that can light up even the darkest corners of our world. Her inspiring words empower readers to embrace love as both a shield against adversity and a catalyst for personal growth. “Love and Light” is a roadmap to a brighter, more compassionate world.

The world spins faster than ever before. The digital age has swept through our lives, changing the way we communicate, consume news, and connect with each other. In this whirlwind of change, it's easy to feel lost, adrift in a sea of information overload. But amidst the digital deluge, there's a yearning for something real, something tangible, something that reminds us of who we are and where we come from. Enter Stan, a seasoned journalist who finds himself grappling with the decline of print media. He's a man of routine, a creature of habit, a lover of the printed word. The world outside his newsroom is changing, but he's clinging to the past, to the familiar comfort of ink and paper. His story is a microcosm of a larger shift, a reflection of the changing times. It's a humorous and heartwarming tale of a man clinging to tradition in a rapidly evolving world, a man who finds solace in the stories he tells, and a man who discovers that the spirit of storytelling transcends the medium. This is a story about the last evening, a nostalgic nod to a bygone era, but also a hopeful look toward the future. It's a reminder that while the world spins forward, the human heart still yearns for connection, for shared experiences, and for stories that make us feel less alone.