What might a sixteenth-century Spanish nun and an eighteenth-century French architect have in common? Hope of Stones invites you into a cross-century conversation among The Nun, The Architect, and The Poet that explores the desire to create and connect across time and other unseen things.

The civil rights movement was arguably the most successful social movement in American history. In a provocative new assessment of its success, David Chappell argues that the story of civil rights is not a story of the ultimate triumph of liberal ideas after decades of gradual progress. Rather, it is a story of the power of religious tradition. Chappell reconsiders the intellectual roots of civil rights reform, showing how northern liberals' faith in the power of human reason to overcome prejudice was at odds with the movement's goal of immediate change. Even when liberals sincerely wanted change, they recognized that they could not necessarily inspire others to unite and fight for it. But the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament--sometimes translated into secular language--drove African American activists to unprecedented solidarity and self-sacrifice. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, James Lawson, Modjeska Simkins, and other black leaders believed, as the Hebrew prophets believed, that they had to stand apart from society and instigate dramatic changes to force an unwilling world to abandon its sinful ways. Their impassioned campaign to stamp out "the sin of segregation" brought the vitality of a religious revival to their cause. Meanwhile, segregationists found little support within their white southern religious denominations. Although segregationists outvoted and outgunned black integrationists, the segregationists lost, Chappell concludes, largely because they did not have a religious commitment to their cause.

In the tradition of The Other Wes Moore and Just Mercy, a searing memoir and clarion call to save our at-risk youth by a young black man who himself was a lost cause—until he landed in a rehabilitation program that saved his life and gave him purpose. Born into abject poverty in Haiti, young Jim St. Germain moved to Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, into an overcrowded apartment with his family. He quickly adapted to street life and began stealing, dealing drugs, and growing increasingly indifferent to despair and violence. By the time he was arrested for dealing crack cocaine, he had been handcuffed more than a dozen times. At the age of fifteen the walls of the system were closing around him. But instead of prison, St. Germain was placed in "Boys Town," a nonsecure detention facility designed for rehabilitation. Surrounded by mentors and positive male authority who enforced a system based on structure and privileges rather than intimidation and punishment, St. Germain slowly found his way, eventually getting his GED and graduating from college. Then he made the bravest decision of his life: to live, as an adult, in the projects where he had lost himself, and to work to reform the way the criminal justice system treats at-risk youth. A Stone of Hope is more than an incredible coming-of-age story; told with a degree of candor that requires the deepest courage, it is also a rallying cry. No one is who they are going to be—or capable of being—at sixteen. St. Germain is living proof of this. He contends that we must work to build a world in which we do not give up on a swath of the next generation. Passionate, eloquent, and timely, illustrated with photographs throughout, A Stone of Hope is an inspiring challenge for every American, and is certain to spark debate nationwide.

Stones of Hope shows how African human rights activists have opened new possibilities for justice in the everyday lives of the world's most impoverished peoples.

This year one in ten adults will experience the isolation and inner barrenness of major depression. It is second only to marital difficulties in causing individuals to seek pastoral counseling. Depression and Hope is the expert, authoritative guide to appropriate ways for pastoral counselors to think about and treat depression. Building on his counseling practice, research, and personal experience, Howard Stone explains the latest understandings of depression and its symptoms, its spiritual dimensions, the likelihood of suicide, as well as the pros and cons of various drug therapies (including Prozac). In his characteristically readable, no-nonsense way, Stone then offers specific, tested ways for counselors briefly and effectively to address the physical, behavioral, cognitive, and interpersonal facets of depression. Though enigmatic, depression is very treatable, and Stone shows how proper intervention by clergy can facilitate not only strong recovery but also strengthened faith.

The Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall of Washington, DC, is dedicated to the first person of color, first person for peace, and first person with no public or government position, etc. The values this person represents—democracy, justice, equal rights, hope, and love—are ever more relevant to the advance of human civilization of our own society and those of the whole world. The unique memorial style also sets it apart from all the other memorials on the National Mall of Washington, DC. Its central piece, the Stone of Hope, is the first granite statue, the tallest, and installed outdoor. It was designed, carved, and installed by a Chinese master sculptor, Lei Yixin. You may want to know who first initiated this project. Who managed the operation of the memorial development project? Whose design was finally selected? Who is Lei Yixin? How and why he was chosen to be the sculptor of record? How did he design and build the massive Stone of Hope and the Mountains of Despair out of granite? Where did he create those art pieces? And from where did they ship the stone to Washington DC? How did he install this central piece of the memorial? This book will give you all above and more answers you would like to know.