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COMMENTARIES
by Scott Awbrey The books on this page are recommended by Rev. Scott. Some are new releases, while others hold a special place in his library. The Second Mountain
The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks © 2019 
"David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning. He shares wisdom on how to choose a partner, how to pick a vocation, ow to live out a philosophy, and how we can begin to integrate our commitment into one overriding purpose." - from the book's cover
Every so often, you meet people who radiate joy—who seem to know why they were put on this earth, who glow with a kind of inner light. Life, for these people, has often followed what we might think of as a two-mountain shape. They get out of school, they start a career and begin climbing the mountain they thought they were meant to climb. Their goals on this first mountain are the ones our culture endorses: to be a success, to make your mark, to experience personal happiness. But when they get to the top of that mountain, something happens. They look around and find the view . . . unsatisfying. They realize: This wasn’t my mountain after all. There’s another, bigger mountain out there that is actually my mountain. And so they embark on a new journey. On the second mountain, life moves from self-centered to other-centered. They want the things that are truly worth wanting, not the things other people tell them to want. They embrace a life of interdependence, not independence. They surrender to a life of commitment. David Brooks is a bestselling author, a columnist for The New York Times, and appears regularly on "PBS NewsHour" and "Meet the Press." Selected quotes from The Second Mountain can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book at your local bookstore or online. Other recommended and favorite books can be found on our website. The Lightmaker's Manifesto
How to Work for Change Without Losing Your Joy by Karen Walrond © 2021 
"Karen Walrond knows that when you care deeply about the world, light can seem hard to find. But when your activism grows out of your joy - and vice versa - you begin to see light everywhere. By unearthing our passions and gifts, we learn how to joyfully advocate for justice, peace, and liberation. We learn hos to become makers of light." - from the book's cover
The Lightmaker’s Manifesto issues a call to get involved in changing the world without destroying one’s self. Concerned with selflessness and sacrifice, the book emphasizes self-care, which is vital both to individuals and to the world. It helps readers find causes that truly stir them and bring them joy, and to develop practices to help them flourish in their work. - review by Melissa Wuske Chapter titles include:
Karen Walrond is a lawyer, leadership coach, photographer, activist, and senior director for global engagement for the Brene Brown Education and Research Group. Selected quotes from The Lightmaker's Manifesto can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book at your local bookstore or online. Other recommended and favorite books can be found on our website. Living a Committed Life
Finding Freedom and Fulfillment in a Purpose Larger Than Yourself by Lynne Twist © 2023 
"Lynne Twist demonstrates how a commitment to a purpose larger than yourself can enliven and empower you, enabling you to see new possibilities, engage in effective action, and discover resources and capacities you may not know you have." - from the book's cover
"As Lynne writes, living a committed life is not about doing good so that you can feel good about yourself or look good to others. It is about answering a call that creates a new context for your life. It's about taking a stand and giving your word that you will live into that stand and have it shape your life. It requires keeping that commitment in the face of the challenges. You learn to pay attention, to train yourself to navigate the upsets and challenges and to learn from and be nourished by them.” - review by Bob Morris Chapter titles include:
Lynne Twist is a global visionary, activist, cofounder of the Pachamama Alliance, and author of the bestselling book The Soul of Money. Selected quotes from Living a Committed Life can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book at your local bookstore or online. Other recommended and favorite books can be found on our website. We Were Made For These Times
Ten Lessons for Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption by Kaira Jewel Lingo © 2021 
"A treasure trove of loving, practical advice about how we can navigate through difficult times and challenging transitions with our heart and mind intact."
– from the book’s cover Drawing on her years of mindfulness practice and teaching, Kaira Jewel Lingo offers spiritual lessons in meeting life's challenges with courage, wisdom, and compassion. Her teachings of home-coming, weathering the storms, acceptance, and inclusivity are a beautiful guide for living an empowered life. Chapter titles include:
Kaira Jewel Lingo was a Buddhist nun for 15 years, training closely with Thich Nhat Hanh. She teaches mindfulness internationally, providing spiritual mentoring for personal challenges, and for global issues of racial, climate, and social justice concerns. Selected quotes from We Were Made For These Times can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book at your local bookstore or online. Other recommended and favorite books can be found on our website. - Review by Scott Awbrey
January, 2023 After
What Near Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond by Bruce Greyson, M.D. © 2021 
Dr. Bruce Greyson approaches near-death experiences from a scientific perspective. “Our culture,” he writes, “has tended to view dying as the end of our consciousness, the end of our existence.” But Greyson shows how revelations about the dying process support an alternative theory. “Dying could be the threshold between one form of consciousness and another, not an ending but a transition.” – from the book’s cover
The research of Dr. Greyson, considered by many to be the world's leading expert on near-death experiences, caused him to rethink the nature of death, life, and the continuity of consciousness. He recounts the experiences of dozens of individuals who “passed” and then returned to share what they witnessed and what they felt, and how it stimulated a renewed life of meaning and compassion. Dr. Bruce Greyson is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Selected quotes from After can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book at your local bookstore or online. Other recommended and favorite books can be found on our website. - Review by Scott Awbrey
December, 2022 The Book of Hope
A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams © 2021 
"Drawing on her own work that has helped countless people understand how to build a better world, Jane Goodall touches on vital questions: How do we stay hopeful when everything seems hopeless? How do we cultivate hope in our children? What is the relationship between hope and action?" – from the book’s cover
With optimism and practical ideas, naturalist Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams, the co-author of The Book of Joy, share inspiring and humorous stories, providing wisdom and common-sense solutions to the personal and collective challenges we face. Jane writes about the spirit that never surrenders and how to allow love to show up in “hopeless” situations. She inspires and gives us reasons to get involved in the world we live in, to be hopeful. Students of New Thought teachings may recall that Ernest Holmes didn’t put much stock in the promise of hope. He called hope “a subtle illusion; a compromise with doubt,” believing that our use of the spiritual power within us is our best resource for making positive changes. But Jane’s faith in hope comes from her belief in that same power and that our world dynamics and our own lives can be better. Jane Goodall is a primatologist and anthropologist and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a global conservation organization. She is an honorary member of the World Future Council and was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Selected quotes from The Book of Hope can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book at your local bookstore or online. Other recommended and favorite books can be found on our website. - Review by Scott Awbrey
November, 2022 From Strength to Strength
Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks © 2022 
“Arthur Brooks helps people find greater happiness as they age and change.” - The Dalai Lama
From Strength to Strength provides a strategy for finding purpose, meaning, and success as we advance in years. In the first half of life, we tend to follow a formula for success: work hard and make personal sacrifices. But, along the way, our mindset, skills, and priorities change. By refocusing on deep wisdom, relationships, and spiritual awareness, we can experience a different kind of happiness, a deeper joy. Drawing from science, philosophy, and Eastern spirituality, Brooks shows how to accept the gifts of a new strength. From Strength to Strength is a good companion piece to other books that focus on the second half of life: Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr, and The Second Mountain by David Brooks. Arthur Brooks is a social scientist, Harvard professor, and bestselling author. Selected quotes from From Strength to Strength can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book at your local bookstore or online. - Review by Scott Awbrey
October, 2022 Sapiens; 21 Lessons; and Homo Deus
by Yuval Noah Harari 
The works of a young historian and philosopher at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Yuval Noah Harari, have become important inclusions in the libraries of world leaders, religionists, and anyone who wants to better understand the story and nature of humankind. One could be forgiven for assuming his international best-selling books are heavy reading and strictly secular, but Harari’s ideas are framed by his personal mission statement: “Keep your eyes on the ball. Focus on the main global problems facing humanity, learn to distinguish reality from illusion, and care about suffering.”
Harari’s writing style is sweeping, yet relaxed and readable, and his personal anecdotes and wit are engaging. His books are: Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind; 21 Lessons for the 21st Century; and Homo Deus, A Brief History of Tomorrow. Sapiens proposes that humankind is on the verge of a profound makeover. He writes that, because of technology and biological engineering, what has given meaning to life up until now is changing. His subsequent best-sellers, Homo Deus and 21 Lessons, focus on the present and the near future. Harari is an academic with global and spiritual perspectives. He dedicated one of his books to his teacher, S.N. Goenka, an Indian teacher of Vipassanā meditation. Harari’s days include an hour of meditation, and he spends several weeks each year on a silent-meditation retreat in India. The cultures of our world and our communities are dramatically changing, and it is incumbent on spiritual leaders and students to have a clear eye on the dynamics at play. Harari’s writing helps provide that view. Selected quotes from Harari's writing can be found in our database. For a complete reading of his material and to support the author and publisher, purchase these books at your local bookstore or online. - Review by Scott Awbrey
January, 2022 Resolve Your Fears
Activate Your Spiritual Immune System by Michelle Medrano Copyright © 2021 
"Resolve Your Fears challenges us to rise up and out of our individual and collective fear and live with greater courage. Just as we do things to build our physical immune system, we can build our spiritual immune system and move forward with courage and strength." - from the back cover
Michelle Medrano provides a very basic - yet very powerful - strategy for facing our fears and rising up to live the life that Spirit intends for us. She teaches that it is not conditions that cause our fear. Rather, it is our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that are the culprits, and she shows us how to change our inner environment to deal with our fear. If you're a spiritual leader, this book offers a wealth of teaching gems. If you're a student of sacred wisdom, seeking to apply spiritual insights to your life, you'll find a blueprint for empowerment that can set you free. Michelle Medrano is a career minister in the New Thought movement. She is the co-lead minister of Mile Hi Church in Lakewood, Colorado. Selected quotes from Resolve Your Fears can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book online by going here, or at your local bookstore. - Review by Scott Awbrey
November, 2021 Wholeness & Holiness
How to be Sane, Spiritual, and Saintly by David Richo Copyright © 2020 
“We have heard or said: ‘I am not a saint.’ Usually this means: ‘Don’t expect me to be perfect.’ But a saint is not perfect in the sense of being totally saintly every minute of every day. A saint is an ordinary person who is animated by an extraordinary love.” - from the book
David Richo approaches his teaching from mystical, Jungian, and psychological traditions. In his book, Wholeness & Holiness, he offers a three-step journey to psychological soundness, spiritual wholeness, and saintly holiness. He teaches that wholeness does not refer to perfection, but to all-ness. “Wholeness…means that we are fully, all ourselves.” And his description of holiness – or sanctity – is having a relationship with the Divine and a love of others. Richo addresses key areas of living such as well-beingness, integrity, sexuality, sanctity, and spiritual love. He’s a masterful storyteller and he offers pragmatic steps one can take in a journey of everyday, saintly living. David Richo, PhD, is a psychotherapist, teacher, writer, and workshop leader whose work emphasizes the benefits of mindfulness and loving-kindness in personal growth and emotional well-being. He is the author of more than 20 books, including How to Be an Adult in Relationships. Selected quotes from Wholeness & Holiness can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book online by clicking here, or at your local bookstore. - Review by Scott Awbrey
October, 2021 Dedicated
The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing by Pete Davis Copyright © 2021 
“An inspiring argument that commitment can be a powerful force in our age of restlessness, short attention spans, and infinite choices.” – from the back cover
Pete Davis’s book about commitment carries a message that can inspire and empower many audiences: church congregations, parents, business leaders, and even politicians. He makes the point that the mode many people are stuck in, “infinite browsing and keeping our options open,” makes us restless, tense, and unproductive. And he says that, while it is vital to explore possibilities, it is through making deep commitments that we find a sense of purpose, depth, and community. Davis’s ideas are good fodder for preaching, teaching, and building community. And they can help spiritual leaders and students become “long-haulers” in a life journey. Pete Davis is a civic advocate who works on American solidarity. His Harvard Law School graduation speech, “A Counterculture of Commitment,” has been viewed more than 30 million times. Selected quotes from Dedicated can be found in our database. For a complete reading of this material and to support the author and publisher, purchase this book online by clicking here, or at your local bookstore. - Review by Scott Awbrey
October, 2021 More reviews coming soon!
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"A book is a garden, a storehouse, a party, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.” - Charles Baudelaire |