Pepper Choplins unique style is on perfect display with this arrangement of two traditional folk hymns. Accessible choral writing delivers warm texture throughout as each song is presented separately and then in tandem. Just as a river, the text flows gently above a simple, yet supportive keyboard accompaniment.

Originally published: Louisville, Ky.: Geneva Press, 2000.

With a compelling mixture of humor and insight, Moody offers his reflection on religion and American life. Standing at the intersection of the public and the private, and speaking with authentic faith unfettered by fear, Moody offers words of clarity and compassion about some of the more troublesome issues of our time. Many readers will find this collection of newspaper columns most refreshing. "This book of short essays transports the reader into the realm of life's rhythms and every day surprises, writes Bob Mong, president and publisher of the Dallas Morning News in the preface. Moody's stories are not soggy and sentimental. There is fire and pathos intermingling naturally, with passages of love, forgiveness, and tenderness. Moving easily from the personal to the public, Moody offers a word that needs to be heard--"at times powerful and prophetic--"but also pastoral, often poignant, and always with a view toward the common good. Moody speaks to a broad range of topics--"books, family, church, friends culture--"with titles like "Did Jesus Know about Jabez?," "One Hell of a Prayer," "Survival, Guide for Orthodox Churches," "I'm in the Jailhouse Now," "Autism and Easter," and "Howard Finster--"Man of Visions." Moody describes candidly the joys and sorrows that have come his way and how the simple gifts of faith hope, and love have served as sources of both endurance and delight. Do not be surprised if these stories do not warm your soul even as they inform the mind.

Klara Tammany is a professional Christian educator who goes about her calling with a joyous urgency. This book demonstrates her impassioned approach to religious instruction. She starts with the premise that ongoing Christian education must be central to a life of faith, and then proceeds from the corollary that baptism must be central to all Christian education. Eight group sessions focus repeatedly on water, first as a natural element necessary to life, then as a symbolic element necessary to spirituality. Gradually, through prayer, song, scripture, silence, poetry, visual arts, storytelling, group discussion, and personal reflection, water--as baptismal element--gains ascendancy. No longer mere, occasional refreshment, Living Water inundates, becomes life's very medium. This text makes for excellent catechumenal preparation but is intended for use by all Christians--those who are years into their journeys as well as those who are beginning. Designed for small groups of adult Episcopalians, the program is easily adaptable to other denominations, to one-on-one spiritual mentoring, to children, young adult, or intergenerational groups, and even to individuals for private meditation.

This is a book of prayers, with reflections on the act of praying. The prayers are scenes from daily life touching upon different topics: a prayer for animals; a prayer before a Christmas Tree; a prayer of the agnostic, of the unemployed, and of a college student; and a prayer against pessimism. Prayer is a rapport between heaven and earth, between God and humanity. There is no certified method of praying but some prayers offer a methodology, like the psalms. Your prayers are just you. Learning to pray is like when children learn to dance, to become the wind or a tree. They just let go. Prayer is the creative capacity of every soul, a deep structure, a language art, a reinvention of language that makes it possible for the spirit to sing and speak, to praise, petition, and weep.