This book is for anyone who has ever given serious thought to questioning the extraordinary claims of the Christian faith. For those who have harbored suspicions about the idea of a loving protector God; or the idea that an eternal paradise awaits us after death; or that there is a divine purpose to our lives – this book will be athought provoking read. The author was once a devout believer in the tenets of the Christian faith. He is now a contented atheist. An Atheist in the Choir Loft puts forward an honest account of what one firm believer discovered when he allowed himself to step back, separate his religious convictions from his identity, and objectively scrutinize the beliefs he had held for most of his life.

"Reading Message from Daddy can help you: develop an understanding of the end-of-life process that will help you and your family cope; learn how to use affirmative prayer to bring hope to your daily routine; use the concept of transition of the Spirit to add a new dimension to your healing process after the loss; find out how to get your life back, through a step by step approach; discover how to honor your feelings, develop a support network, stay in touch with love, and trust God; believe in miracles again and know that you deserve them in your life!"--Page 4 of cover

"The authors restore metaphor to our lives by showing us that it's never gone away. We've merely been taught to talk as if it had: as though weather maps were more 'real' than the breath of autumn; as though, for that matter, Reason was really 'cool.' What we're saying whenever we say is a theme this book illumines for anyone attentive." — Hugh Kenner, Johns Hopkins University "In this bold and powerful book, Lakoff and Turner continue their use of metaphor to show how our minds get hold of the world. They have achieved nothing less than a postmodern Understanding Poetry, a new way of reading and teaching that makes poetry again important." — Norman Holland, University of Florida

Frances Sedbury's sudden death, killed by rifle shots that caught her in the middle of the Living Christmas Tree, far outshown her life. It takes widow Mavis Lashley--who has the infallible intuitions of a native small-towner and the courage of her convictions--to dig deep into the local dirt to find out the truth. Not only about Frances's mysterious life and death but about the scandalous secret shenanigans of some church movers and shakers. Not to mention the deadly corruption that stretches from a rundown house in the country to an exclusive upper-class enclave and practically in Mavis's own backyard....

The Mass in My Life is the story of a Catholic laywoman's lifelong experience of the Mass. She recaptures childhood experiences, traces a path to adulthood, and in her elder years finds a wondrous gratitude for the Mass. Along the way, family, friends, pastors, favorite authors, and the Mass itself lighten her way as she seeks, in the words of an old missal, "the God who is the joy of my youth." Personal and family memories are recalled side-by-side with selected prayers of the Mass from her collection of missals that covers seven decades. The meaning of the Mass unfolds as the years go by, marked by ordinary days as well as rites of passage. Each chapter focuses on a milestone or period in the author's life and a prayer from the Order of the Mass. The two themes, life and Mass, interweave chronologically in a unique twofold structure. There are rich and sometimes troubling memories of personal and family life here, but always an attentive longing for the Mass which the author sees as the transforming experience of her life.