Our fast-paced world is filled with books, tapes and television shows that tell us how great life can be if we just listen to them and buy their products. It seems that our lives need to follow the same road as the crowd or we won't be happy. In The Back Porch Philosopher, Doug McLaughlin uses cliches, both popular and unheard of, to relay stories and spread the wisdom that we all have the power within us to find happiness. McLaughlin's engaging words and conversational style will make you laugh and make you think about life's choices.

There's no secret wisdom in old sayings. They've been around forever and sitting out in plain view for everyone to see. It's simple. It's about natural universal laws and cause-effect relationships between what we do and what we get in return. In Front Porch Philosophy, Dr. Tom Turner uses actual case examples from his former counseling practice along with many of his own unique experiences to illustrate how it doesn't have to be that mysterious or complex. All we have to do is follow the advice prescribed in the sayings and we will absolutely become more effective in every area of our lives. It's all about common sense. Natural law set into place by the Creator of all that is.

I was a hybrid United Methodist preacher among the Baptist Knights of the Long Table--thats what I called them, as they met every morning at Jaspers Porch Restaurant in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Theological questions were discussed that wouldve made John Wesley or John Calvin proud. Although Baptist, they welcomed me like the father of the returning prodigal son. Those breakfast meetings were more enthusiastic and beneficial than any seminary classroom I ever remembered. The discussions were living proof that God is with us even though sometimes we wander about in the fields like Joseph hunting for his brothers. We covered the whole spectrum of Systematic Theology over multiple cups of hot coffee, ranging from the creation and fall, the mark of Cain, the Nephilim giants, the Great Deluge, and the final passion week of Jesus Christ, to name a few. Back-Porch Theology reveals that theology was never meant to be shut up in a seminary classroom.

Regardless of their sometimes ambiguous concepts of God, the Roman Stoic philosophers did acknowledge Him, but on the basis of reason alone, because they had not met Christ. Nonetheless, they did deduce from God's existence our need to live lives of virtue, honor, tranquility, and self-control--and they developed effective techniques to help us achieve this. Musonius Rufus the teacher, Epictetus the slave, Seneca the adviser to emperors, and Marcus Aurelius, the emperor himself, produced a practical technology we can use to integrate Christian ethics into our own daily practice. As Kevin Vost so wonderfully illustrates in his new book, The Porch and the Cross, the Stoics can help us learn--and remember--what is up to us, and what is up to God alone.

A picture book illustrating various scenes from the life of Christ, pointing to his resurrection and the ultimate glorification of believers in heaven.

Come with us for a moment out onto the porch. Just like that, we’ve entered another world without leaving home. In this liminal space, an endless array of absorbing philosophical questions arises: What does it mean to be in a place? How does one place teach us about the world and ourselves? What do we—and the things we’ve built—mean in this world? In a time when reflections on the nature of society and individual endurance are so paramount, Charlie Hailey’s latest book is both a mental tonic and a welcome provocation. Solidly grounded in ideas, ecology, and architecture, The Porch takes us on a journey along the edges of nature where the outside comes in, hosts meet guests, and imagination runs wild. Hailey writes from a modest porch on the Homosassa River in Florida. He sleeps there, studies the tides, listens for osprey and manatee, welcomes shipwrecked visitors, watches shadows on its screens, reckons with climate change, and reflects on his own acclimation to his environment. The profound connections he unearths anchor an armchair exploration of past porches and those of the future, moving from ancient Greece to contemporary Sweden, from the White House roof to the Anthropocene home. In his ruminations, he links up with other porch dwellers including environmentalist Rachel Carson, poet Wendell Berry, writers Eudora Welty and Zora Neale Hurston, philosopher John Dewey, architect Louis Kahn, and photographer Paul Strand. As close as architecture can bring us to nature, the porch is where we can learn to contemplate anew our evolving place in a changing world—a space we need now more than ever. Timeless and timely, Hailey’s book is a dreamy yet deeply passionate meditation on the joy and gravity of sitting on the porch.