Journeying with Hope into a New Year: Reflections for Advent and Christmas originated in 1982 when our family lived at Tantur, an ecumenical institute between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. My wife Nancy and I sent family and friends a letter highlighting our experience of Christmastide in the Holy Land. Inspired by writing this message from afar, we continue each year to write a letter with family news, a moving quote from a hymn or literary work, and spiritual reflections. These provide the basis for thirty-one meditations to be read daily through the month of December. Each includes a biblical text, a brief meditation, and a prayer. These may enable readers to experience more than the commercialism of the season and be led to magnify Jesus, the One who is at the heart of why we celebrate Christmas or write New Years’ Resolutions. A line in The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry summarizes a crucial idea informing this collection: “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Journeying with Hope into a New Year: Reflections for Advent and Christmas originated in 1982 when our family lived at Tantur, an ecumenical institute between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. My wife Nancy and I sent family and friends a letter highlighting our experience of Christmastide in the Holy Land. Inspired by writing this message from afar, we continue each year to write a letter with family news, a moving quote from a hymn or literary work, and spiritual reflections. These provide the basis for thirty-one meditations to be read daily through the month of December. Each includes a biblical text, a brief meditation, and a prayer. These may enable readers to experience more than the commercialism of the season and be led to magnify Jesus, the One who is at the heart of why we celebrate Christmas or write New Years' Resolutions. A line in The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery summarizes a crucial idea informing this collection: "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

p>Four unaccompanied migrant children come together along the arduous journey north through Mexico to the United States border in this ode to the power of hope and connection even in the face of uncertainty and fear. Every year, roughly 50,000 unaccompanied minors arrive at the US/Mexico border to present themselves for asylum or related visas. The majority of these children are non-Mexicans fleeing the systemic violence of Central America’s "Northern Triangle": Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. A Journey Toward Hope tells the story of Rodrigo, a 14-year-old escaping Honduran violence; Alessandra, a 10-year-old Guatemalan whose first language is Q'eqchi'; and the Salvadoran siblings Laura and Nando. Though their reasons for making the trip are different and the journey northward is perilous, the four children band together, finding strength in one another as they share the dreams of their past and the hopes for their future. A Journey Toward Hope is written in collaboration with Baylor University’s Social Innovation Collaborative, with illustrations by the award-winning Susan Guevara (Chato's Kitchen, American Library Association Notable Book, New York Public Library's 100 Great Children’s Books / 100 Years). It includes four pages of nonfiction back matter with additional information and resources created by the Baylor Social Innovation Collaborative.

"Dr. Bill, can you teach me how to die?" What is it about this stage in life that calls us to seek instruction? Can anyone teach someone how to die? In his book, Dr. Stephenson suggests that death is not our greatest fear. In this OVID crisis, it is dying that is our greatest fear. "Will I suffer?" "Will I have to die alone?" "Who can I depend on?" It is in this final stage of living that Dr. Stephenson was privileged to witness and assist hundreds of children, youth and adults. This book is a testimony of those who, knowing they would soon die, chose to be open to seeking a new way to hope. A hope that would help them to embrace the mystery of living with purpose and meaning until they died. "No, Sam, I can't teach you how to die. But together, we can discover a hope that you can hang onto that will give you a richer life until you die."

In an earnest attempt to spread spiritual inspiration and growth, Reverend Tim McConnell pens an enriching collection of thoughtful devotions that will move your heart, stir your thoughts, and direct you to Gods chosen path for you. A compilation of short yet profound articles that have already been published in local weekly newspapers, Small Steps On A Long Journey contains more than more than three hundred-fifty pages of hope, joy, courage, enlightenment, faith, triumph amid difficulty, and much more. Touching on some of societys most sensitive topics, this anthology also captivates readers with deep thoughts and moving insights about daily human encounters and lifes biggest questions. Tim has attempted to incorporate into these writings the use of common events, themes, and everyday living along side the necessity of living a holy life.

These two volumes chronicle the life of a liberal Jew who came of age in Germany during the relatively enlightened period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rudolf Moos obtained his education in Ulm and, after working in his family’s leather business, went in hope to seek his fortune in Berlin. He founded Salamander, the largest shoe business in Germany, which is still active today. He was a German patriot, who served his country in World War I and received a War Merit Cross (Kriegsverdienstkreuz) for his endeavors. Rudolf Moos lived in Germany in growing despair through the political upheaval and hyperinflation in the aftermath of World War I. He was related to and enjoyed a friendship with Albert Einstein when they both lived in Berlin in the 1920s and early 1930s. Rudolf Moos then experienced the rise of the Nazis and the ever-growing restrictions placed on him and members of his extended family. Anti-Jewish sentiment in Germany rose sharply during 1933, which effectively ended his active life in business and community affairs and give him unsought free time to set out the story of his life. He and his wife were eventually permitted to leave Germany and immigrate to England, where he continued to work on his memoirs during the turmoil of World War II. Volume I of Rudolf Moos’ memoirs, “Rise and Fall”, describes the poisoned atmosphere existing for the Jews in the Germany of the late 1930s, sets out his experiences of humiliation and arrest, the breath of freedom on leaving his Homeland, and his arrival in England as a penniless alien. Chapter 1 focuses on Rudolf Moos’ origins and his father’s family and leather manufacturing company, which initiated trade with East India in the 1880s. It describes the background of Rudolf Moos’ mother, who was a member of the Einstein family, and provides details about the lives of Rafael and Rupert Einstein, her father and grandfather.