Abba S Whisper

There is a longstanding tradition that God whispers in our ears. He does not shout. It is in "the holy whisper," writes the Quaker mystic, that we hear Abba's voice, not in the noise of clamoring crowds or the incessant barrage of social media. To hear the voice of God is an awesome thing--to know his thoughts, to intuit his love, to participate in his good pleasure. It is both a gift to be received and art to be cultivated. It can call to us when we least expect; but we can train ourselves to become receptive listeners. We need help to separate the cacophony of voices calling to us from the quiet whisper of Abba--barely audible. Since our wordy world masks the quiet, respectful voice of God, we need to recognize the primary ways that Abba communicates with his creation. We must embrace practices that move us out of lives of distraction and exchange old patterns of living with new ways of seeing and hearing. From our deep Christian past we hear the voice of St. Augustine murmur, "Whisper in my heart, I am here to save you. I shall hear your voice and make haste to clasp you to myself."

From the award winning author of Sir Laurence Dies comes this epic fantasy tale, the 3rd book in his Osirian series. The Songs of the Osirian fall silent. At the twilight of Ra's rule, he sent his daughter, Sekhmet, to punish mankind. But her blood-lust became uncontrollable. The Osirian pleaded with Ra to stop her. He filled the Nile River with beer mixed in pomegranate juice. Sekhmet, mistaking it for blood, drank it all. Tricked and drunk, she recognised too late the betrayal. So, Sekhmet gave up the slaughter and in grief, Ra locked her in the void, never to return. But now, Ra is gone. The Osirian defending mankind dwindle, their power fading. As Sam and Akhet work to unravel the Dark Lord Beast's plan, it leads them to Sekhmet. The forces of light must fight to stop her from rising again, or the balance of power may shift to Beast's unearthly hands...

Have you ever wished you could have a conversation with God about your life? Have you ever wanted Him to open the Scriptures to you and make the words come alive? Learning how to engage with God and have real conversations with Him may be the most important thing you ever do. In Whispers of my Abba you will learn how to listen to the Spirit of God and develop a conversational prayer life that will change forever your relationship to God. (Large print is 16pt Verdana)

Abbas is just seventeen years old when his gifts as a woodcarver come to the attention of Tipu Sultan. He is drawn into service at the palace to build a giant tiger automaton for Tipu’s sons, a gift to commemorate their return from British captivity. His fate—and the fate of the wooden tiger—will mirror the vicissitudes of nations and dynasties ravaged by war across India and Europe. Working alongside the legendary French clockmaker Lucien du Leze, Abbas hones his craft, learns French, and meets Jehanne, the daughter of a French expatriate. When Du Leze is finally permitted to return home to Rouen, he invites Abbas to come along as his apprentice. But by the time Abbas travels to Europe, Tipu’s palace has been looted by British forces, and the tiger automaton has disappeared. To prove himself, Abbas must retrieve the tiger from an estate in the English countryside, where it is displayed as a part of a collection of plundered art. A spellbinding historical novel set in the eighteenth century: a hero’s quest, a love story, the story of a young artist coming of age, and an exuberant heist adventure that traces the bloody legacy of colonialism across two continents and fifty years.

Standing apart from celebrated Iranian ideals of war and martyrdom, revolutionary filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami was known as a man who praised life and celebrated it in all his works. Creating films for more than 40 years during times of unending war and political turmoil, Kiarostami promoted the Sufi tradition of seeing God as part of nature and the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian ideal of environmental protection. Kiarostami’s self-image as a citizen of the world, his renunciation of war, and his concern for the future of nature cement his importance within the art form of poetic cinema. Addressing Kiarostami’s illumination of humanity’s self-destructive tendencies, author Julian Rice presents a detailed analysis of twelve individual films, from Homework (1989) to Like Someone in Love (2012). Departing from concerns of spectatorship or film in general, Rice’s book portrays the human and spiritual core of Kiarostami. Connected to all other humans and to the earth we all inhabit, Kiarostami’s vision remains a powerful message for film scholars and peaceful people everywhere.

Previous studies of nineteenth-century Egypt have often been premature in identifying the existence of an independent nation state. In a way which will permanently affect our view of Egyptian history, this book argues that in the mid-nineteenth-century period Egypt was still an Ottoman province, with a provincial Ottoman elite which was only gradually becoming Egyptian. Part one discusses the creation of a dynastic order in Egypt, especially under Abbas Pasa (1848-1854), and the formation of an Ottoman-Egyptian ruling class. Part two deals with the non-elite groups, the vast majority of Egypt's population. A final chapter offers a convincing picture of the social and cultural life of the period in a way which has never before been attempted in a Middle East context. The author's valuable knowledge of Ottoman and Arabic as well as European documents and his use of a wide variety of sources, including police and court records, chronicles and travel literature, have enabled him to make an important contribution to a neglected period of Egyptian history and indeed to our understanding of other provinces and dependencies in the region.

In the soul of man is a wealth of innate expressions, ready to utter in worship. In this book, Brigette Neita-Bailey opens her spirit and soul to worship the Almighty King of creation, Jesus Christ. Her expressions represent the journey of her pilgrim path at different stages of spiritual development, relationship with God, and her inspirations from the Holy Spirit. Song of Solomon 4:11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.

26/11, 9/11, 7/7—dates that have changed the way we see ourselves and those around us. Dates that have changed the world, and not for the better. Why is the world getting increasingly fragmented? Is there a way for us to understand different viewpoints better? In this collection, writers from India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan—Gulzar, Elmo Jayawardena, Manjula Padmanabhan, Poile Sengupta, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, Subhadra Sen Gupta and others—write about various kinds of conflict in our society and history. Some stories are dark, others full of light and hope, and some outright funny as they portray mindless bigots for what they are. When a church burns in Bangalore, the altar cloth ends up in the hands of Mubina, whose grandmother can clean and repair it like no one else; years after the Partition tore a friendship apart, two people try to find the happiness that was once within their reach; and while chasing away courting couples from the Delhi Ridge, a young thug learns a lesson about what really makes Indian ‘culture’. Interspersed with poems that articulate pleas for peace and understanding, this collection is sure to start a conversation on religion, race, caste, and mindsets that divide us.