A COMPELLING PLEA FOR PEACE! Journey through this heartbreakingly honest and awe-inspiring page-turner, that will capture your heart! Satya dares to understand his life, and ask God why there is evil, starvation, inequality, war, disaster and suffering? Journey into the divine God, or divine self? Travel through the world’s great religions, rich global culture, devastating love, heartbreak, joy and peace. Part literary fiction, magical realism, and science fiction; take this journey and you will never be the same! This book has waited twenty years for an audience. The time is now. Are you ready?

He watched the black glow of what used to be the sun coming up and felt at peace. He was not overwhelmed with the challenge at hand. Perhaps, it had something to do with that feeling he had carried with him all his life. He had been lonely in his life many times, but never had he felt alone. He had always felt a higher purpose was guiding his steps and protecting his way. When he needed protecting he had been protected, when he felt anxiety, his soul was quieted and if he became haughty, he was humbled. The prayers had gone out all over the world and all the people of the world had petitioned their gods, philosophers and shamans for help. It was the "appointed time." This week would be all mankind had to prove that they were worthy of survival. It was his aim to help the gods see that unity could only come if they themselves could achieve understanding, not just of the world's problems, but to reach understanding of each other. He wondered if a god could learn. Could a god learn to change? As he thought these very thoughts, the gods, honored ones, even the demons, were entering the sanctuary. Things would never be the same after this day and week that would follow. It would challenge every rule in the game of life. Many of the gods had never set eyes on the other. What would transpire while they were together could be either inspiring or detrimental to the future of mankind. The Vajra building had been the chosen venue for the gathering because of its historical inspiration. Many wonderful things had happened at the Vajra, and Satya knew its symbolic meaning. He put on his white linen clothes and opened the door to his room. The council received him and escorted him to the elevator. They ascended to the top floor, the Highest High to the luxury view of the Vajra building. He thought back and remembered the news when the first black American president was announced from the Vajra building. It wasn't long after that when the first woman president was elected as well. Third World countries filled with their starving were freed from scarcity and taught to help themselves from this building. But unfortunately the teachings failed later because they were not applied with compassion for all. Men and women who sat in the very room to which he was headed and strategically planned a way to help the world's people had brought down dictators. For those reasons and so many more it could have been said, this is why the Vajra was chosen. But that would have been vanity and also incorrect. It had been chosen for one reason only, for what the Vajra meant and stood for. The word Vajra had a double meaning. It meant Thunderbolt and Diamond. The word Vajra connoted immutability and something unbreakable. As he anticipated that what would be discussed during the week would shake their foundations like thunder, the diamond beneath would be revealed, the answer would be immutable and it would not break the gods. They would not be broken if their spirit of goodness was as strong as he believed it to be. Satya had faith, he believed and he was ready. The men walked him down the burgundy red corridor, six on either side of him, and when they got to the Double Black Doors they stopped. One of the twelve turned to him and handed him a scroll. He opened it and looked down to see what it contained. It read as follows: Divine Attendance Record Book of Names Xipe Totec, Agni, Durga, Ganesa, Ganga hanuman, Himalaya, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Muhammad, Krishna, Buddha, Shakti, Shiva, Vishnu, Ezili Freda, Ezeli Danto, Papa Legba, Gede, Mahakala, Maitraya, Heruka, Hayagriva, Avatar, Brahma, Maya, Siva, Yama, Lakshmi, Sati, Aditi, Parvati, Kali, Manasa, Manu, Mitra, Nandi, Nataraja, Uma, Prajapati, Purusha, Radha, Rama, Ramachandra, Saraswati, Shashti, Trimurti, Soma, Quan-Yin, Ksitigarbha, Lingham, Lao-Tzu, Pa Hsien, Tsao, Shen, Ch' eng Huang, Men Shen, Confucius, Iza

When we choose retreat we make a generous investment in our friendship with Christ. Seasoned spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton gently and eloquently leads us into an exploration of retreat as a key practice that opens us to God, guiding us through seven invitations to retreat. You will discover how to say yes to God's winsome invitation to greater freedom and surrender.

Minter explores what happens when good desires become false gods, robbing people of an intimate relationship with the heavenly Father. (Christian)