Combining an engaging style with scholarly support (including extensive notes plus bibliography and index), Perry Bush delicately balances critical assessment and affirmation of the Bluffton College's legacy of progressive Anabaptism and its place within Anabaptism.

The author’s original intent in writing this memoir was to reflect on her life and share personal stories of faith with her children and grandchildren. She writes of prayer and of God’s often unrecognized availability, presence, and providence. A writer-editor at one Christian Writers Conference examined the developing manuscript and encouraged her to add questions at the end of each chapter, directing reader reflection and extending the book’s usefulness far beyond just family. A contemplative Quaker upbringing created keen awareness of the Holy Spirit and established a mystical foundation for the author’s life, helping her understand what it means to be in an active living-loving relationship with God, a channel of divine love such as revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus. Each chapter has its own theme, and the stories are not always in chronological order because some themes recur over a lifetime. The author shares openly the highs and lows of her less-than-perfect life—things not uncommon to humankind but which are seldom subjects of conversation in our fast-paced, secular world. The stories reveal vulnerability and challenges to faith as well as affirmations. Poems and prayers, written at or near the time of the unfolding stories, plumb the depths of the author’s experience. Questions at the end of each chapter are similar to those a spiritual director might ask to invite consideration of one’s own spiritual journey—where faith has strengthened them, where it has faltered, or where it has invited new growth.

In this electrifying medical thriller from New York Times bestselling author Robin Cook, a family’s exposure to a rare yet deadly virus ensnares them in a growing danger to mankind—and pulls back the curtain on a healthcare system powered by profit and greed. Trying to find some normalcy during the Covid-19 pandemic, Brian Murphy and his family are on a summer excursion in Cape Cod when his wife, Emma, comes down with concerning flu-like symptoms. But their leisurely return home to New York City quickly becomes a race to the local hospital as she suddenly begins seizing in the car. At the ICU, she is diagnosed with eastern equine encephalitis, a rare and highly lethal mosquito-borne viral disease seemingly caught during one of their evening cookouts. Complicating the situation further, Brian and Emma’s young daughter then begins to exhibit alarming physical and behavioral symptoms, too. Emma’s harrowing hospital stay turns even more fraught when Brian receives a staggering hospital bill full of outrageous charges and murky language. To add insult to injury, his health insurance company refuses to cover any of the cost, citing dubious clauses in Brian’s policy. Forced to choose between the ongoing care of family and bills he can never pay, and furious at a shockingly indifferent healthcare system, Brian vows to seek justice. But to get to the bottom of the predatory practices targeting his loved ones and countless others, he must uncover the dark side of an industry that has strayed drastically from its altruistic roots—and bring down the callous executives preying on the sick and defenseless before the virus can claim even more people . . .

Because of its history of westward expansion and its diverse population, Ohio is home to many independent institutions of higher education. This text comprises essays which relate the circumstances of the foundation of 40 such institutions and the history of each since its inception.

A Scott O'Dell Award-winning graphic artist visualizes the story of young Henry, who in 1908 Muskegon, Michigan, bonds with a young Buster Keaton over games of baseball while the latter summers locally with a troupe of vaudeville performers.

JUNE 4, 1863... As the sun began to set below the horizon across the May River estuary, smoke clouds still billowed from the burning homes and buildings of the town; when it rose on the morning of June 5, it was evident that Bluffton's antebellum way of life had vanished forever. Perhaps in an omen of what was to come for the South, the burning of Bluffton, South Carolina, in 1863 was a prelude to the farewell of the Southern plantation era and of the institution of slavery. In the years leading up to the Civil War, Bluffton had gained national prominence as a hotbed of secessionist activity. The Bluffton Movement was sparked during a fiery political gathering held under a sprawling and magnificent live oak now referred to as the Secession Oak. The movement generated a dangerous whirlwind of political rhetoric that only war and devastation would silence.