Recommendations based on "Belief, Doubt, and Fanaticism Is It Essential to Have Something to Believe In?"

From the author of Dark Days and lead singer of long-running extreme metal band, Lamb of God, a riveting and revelatory memoir about self-development and maintaining proper prospective through difficult timesIn his gripping, bestselling debut memoir Dark Days, Lamb of God vocalist D. Randall (Randy) Blythe unflinchingly wrote about some of the most harrowing episodes of his past.Now, in his highly anticipated follow-up Just Beyond the Light, Blythe shares how he works daily to maintain positivity in a world that feels like it is spinning out of control. In his own words, Just Beyond the Light is a "tight, concise roadmap of how I have attempted to maintain what I believe to be a proper perspective in life, even during difficult times." Written with a scathing balance of hard-edged reality offset by a knowing humor and a razor-sharp wit, voiced in in his inimitable, conversational, everyman-philosopher style, Blythe clearly breaks down his approach to life, which is a personal and idiosyncratic mix of sobriety, art, and surfing. He writes movingly of his childhood in the South, of fallen friends, of what he’s learned touring the world as the vocalist of a successful heavy metal band, and of the very real ways he is doing what he can to leave the world a better place. Above all, he offers readers hope that balance, real balance, is possible, even (or especially) when things seem hopeless.Compelling, compassionate, and refreshingly honest, Just Beyond the Light ultimately reminds readers that “as long as we keep our feet (and minds) planted firmly on the ground that is reality, the sky isn’t falling— it never has been, and it never will.”

The now--this moment--is the true source of happiness and peace and the key to living a fulfilled and meaningful life. [i]Embracing the Now[/i] by Gina Lake is a collection of short essays about the now that can serve as daily reminders of the deepest truths. Full of clear insight and wisdom, it explains how the mind keeps us from being in the now, how to move into the now and stay there, and what living from the now is like. It also explains how to overcome stumbling blocks to being in the now, such as fears, doubts, judgments, misunderstandings, distrust of life, desires, and other conditioned ideas that are behind human suffering."By becoming aware of what else is showing up in life in this moment besides thoughts, we can begin to really live in this moment and respond to it naturally, uncluttered by our mental commentary. We are in the moment, but without the ego's influence on it. Spiritual freedom is when the voice of the ego no longer dominates and colors the landscape of life. Rather, this voice is one small aspect of the landscape, one other thing that comes and goes in this landscape. This voice becomes impersonal, something that has no more personal relevance than the bird's song or the temperature of the room. It's experienced, but not experienced as "you." Then it's possible to experience the Experiencer, the true self that is behind all life and behind our life. This Experiencer is in love with life, and when we let it live us, we are in love with life, and our actions and words express that. Freedom from the ego brings a relaxation into the true self and the possibility of being that in the world instead of the ego."

A bestselling work of spiritual advice from a nationally known spiritual leader and beloved author that offers “a set of guideposts for living a useful and fulfilled life, no matter what the future holds” (The Boston Globe).Drawing on the stories of his own congregants, on literature, current events and, above all, on the Biblical story of Jacob (the worldly trickster who evolves into a man of God), Rabbi Harold S. Kushner—author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People—addresses some of the most persistent dilemmas of the human condition: Why do decent people so often violate their moral standards? How can we pursue justice without giving in to the lure of revenge? How can we turn our relationships with family and friends into genuine sources of meaning? Persuasive and sympathetic, filled with humanity and warmth, Living a Life That Matters is a deeply rewarding book.

There is a divine restlessness in the human heart, our eternal echo of longing that lives deep within us and never lets us settle for what we have or where we are.In this exquisitely crafted and inspirational book, John O'Donohue, author of the bestseller Anam Cara, explores the most basic of human desires - the desire to belong, a desire that constantly draws us toward new possibilities of self-discovery, friendship, and creativity.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Chair of The Elders, and Chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, along with his daughter, the Reverend Mpho Tutu, offer a manual on the art of forgiveness—helping us to realize that we are all capable of healing and transformation.Tutu's role as the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission taught him much about forgiveness. If you asked anyone what they thought was going to happen to South Africa after apartheid, almost universally it was predicted that the country would be devastated by a comprehensive bloodbath. Yet, instead of revenge and retribution, this new nation chose to tread the difficult path of confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation.Each of us has a deep need to forgive and to be forgiven. After much reflection on the process of forgiveness, Tutu has seen that there are four important steps to healing: Admitting the wrong and acknowledging the harm; Telling one's story and witnessing the anguish; Asking for forgiveness and granting forgiveness; and renewing or releasing the relationship. Forgiveness is hard work. Sometimes it even feels like an impossible task. But it is only through walking this fourfold path that Tutu says we can free ourselves of the endless and unyielding cycle of pain and retribution. The Book of Forgiving is both a touchstone and a tool, offering Tutu's wise advice and showing the way to experience forgiveness. Ultimately, forgiving is the only means we have to heal ourselves and our aching world.

In the twenty years since its publication, Celebration of Discipline has helped over a million seekers discover a richer spiritual life infused with joy, peace, and a deeper understanding of God. For this special twentieth anniversary edition, Richard J. Foster has added an introduction, in which he shares the story of how this beloved and enduring spiritual guidebook came to be.Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores the "classic Disciplines," or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found.Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study, offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration, bring us nearer to one another and to God.Foster provides a wealth of examples demonstrating how these Disciplines can become part of our daily activities-and how they can help us shed our superficial habits and "bring the abundance of God into our lives." He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can be shared with others." The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the Disciplines, shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Celebration of Discipline will help motivate Christians everywhere to embark on a journey of prayer and spiritual growth.

An honest, soul-searching pursuit of biblical answers to one of Christianity's most challenging questions: What do you do when God meets your prayers with silence? Many of us have struggled with prayers that seem to go unanswered, and Pete Greig has been down that difficult road of doubt. This book is both intensely personal and deeply theological—a book born out of his wife Sammy's fight for her life after a horrifying diagnosis. The acclaimed author of Red Moon Rising wrestles with the hard side of prayer, how to respond when there seem to be no answers, and how to cope with those who seek to interpret our experience for us. For those struggling with prayer, God on Mute brings a message of hope and comfort, but also a better understanding of how we communicate with our Creator. Using the timeline of Holy Week (from Maundy Thursday through Easter Sunday) as a template, Greig explores four main questions about prayer from all angles: How am I going to get through this? Why aren't my prayers being answered? Where is God when he seems silent? When every prayer is answered...what does that mean? Silence in response to our most heart-felt prayers is the hardest thing for a person of faith to wrestle with. The world collapses. Then all goes quiet. Words can't explain what we're going through. People avoid you and don't know what to say. So you turn to Him and you pray. You need Him more than ever before. But somehow even God Himself seems on mute. And this sinks into us with a sense of futility... But even in this crushing silence, there is a way forward. Here is a story of faith, hope, and love beyond all understanding. Includes guide for group discussion.

Love Is Calling. How Will You Answer? One of our greatest desires is to know we are loved by our Creator. Yet the depth of our apprehension is often equally strong: If I listen, we wonder, what will God say? If I open myself up to blessings, what will God require in return? As we trace this line of thinking, the God of all goodness becomes, in our minds, the God of our worst fears. Embrace a Love That’s Worth the Risk. God is far greater than our most expectant dreams. While he does often ask everything of us, he actually wants everything for us. He doesn’t want blind loyalty or bored religious compliance; he longs for nothing less than our entire passionate self–something most of us have yet to glimpse. God’s desire is that people lean in, listen, and wrestle with him so that they can respond to him without fear. Can this God be trusted? Absolutely. Will the journey be easy? Not a chance. But once you learn to listen to love, you’ll find that there’s only one way you can adore this unmanageable, unpredictable, wild, and unruly God: with your whole heart.

A rare, intimate account of a world-renowned Buddhist monk’s near-death experience and the life-changing wisdom he gained from it“One of the most inspiring books I have ever read.”—Pema Chödrön, author of When Things Fall Apart“This book has the potential to change the reader’s life forever.”—George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the BardoAt thirty-six years old, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche was a rising star within his generation of Tibetan masters and the respected abbot of three monasteries. Then one night, telling no one, he slipped out of his monastery in India with the intention of spending the next four years on a wandering retreat, following the ancient practice of holy mendicants. His goal was to throw off his titles and roles in order to explore the deepest aspects of his being. He immediately discovered that a lifetime of Buddhist education and practice had not prepared him to deal with dirty fellow travelers or the screeching of a railway car. He found he was too attached to his identity as a monk to remove his robes right away or to sleep on the Varanasi station floor, and instead paid for a bed in a cheap hostel. But when he ran out of money, he began his life as an itinerant beggar in earnest. Soon he became deathly ill from food poisoning—and his journey took a startling turn. His meditation practice had prepared him to face death, and now he had the opportunity to test the strength of his training. In this powerful and unusually candid account of the inner life of a Buddhist master, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche offers us the invaluable lessons he learned from his near-death experience. By sharing with readers the meditation practices that sustain him, he shows us how we can transform our fear of dying into joyful living.Praise for In Love with the World   “Vivid, compelling . . . This book is a rarity in spiritual literature: Reading the intimate story of this wise and devoted Buddhist monk directly infuses our own transformational journey with fresh meaning, luminosity, and life.”—Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge   “In Love with the World is a magnificent story—moving and inspiring, profound and utterly human. It will certainly be a dharma classic.”—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart   “This book makes me think enlightenment is possible.”—Russell Brand