America S Sacred Calling

Our current ecological derangement is not only a biological crisis but more deeply a crisis of consciousness, culture, and relationship. The core ethical responsibility of our contemporary era, therefore, and the aspiration of this ecopsychological/ecospiritual book, is to create a mutually enhancing relationship between humankind and the rest of nature. To address the urgent concerns of global warming, mass extinction, toxic environments, and our loss of conscious contact with the natural world, psychologist Will W. Adams weaves together insights from Zen Buddhism, Christian mysticism, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and the practice of psychotherapy. Through a transpersonal, nondual, contemplative approach, Adams explores the fundamental malady of supposed separation (or dissociation): mind over body, self over others, my tribe over others', humans over the rest of nature. Instead of merely discussing these crucial issues in abstract terms, the book presents healing alternatives through storytelling, poetry, and theoretical inquiry. Written in an engaging, down-to-earth manner grounded in vivid descriptions of actual lived experience, A Wild and Sacred Call speaks across disciplines to students, experts, and nonspecialists alike.

Women have been rabbis for over forty years. No longer are women rabbis a unique phenomenon, rather they are part of the fabric of Jewish life. In this anthology, rabbis and scholars from across the Jewish world reflect back on the historic significance of women in the rabbinate and explore issues related to both the professional and personal lives of women rabbis. This collection examines the ways in which the reality of women in the rabbinate has impacted on all aspects of Jewish life, including congregational culture, liturgical development, life cycle ritual, the Jewish healing movement, spirituality, theology, and more.

A call to action for America to embrace a new society that honors the spiritual reality of the human soul. Offers hope with a framework for creating an entirely new society that truly uplifts and honors the spiritual reality of the human soul, while fostering the conditions for humankind to transcend the existential fears, anxieties, and petty concerns of this temporal physical world. The author explores the writings of the Bahai Faith and uncovers prophecies that foreshadow a glorious destiny for the United States and its peoples.

This book is a broad-brush approach describing the realities of life in the American rabbinate. Factual portrayals are supplemented by examples drawn from fiction—primarily novels and short stories. Chapters include: ♣Rabbinic Training ♣Congregational Rabbis and Their Communities ♣Congregants’ Views of Their Rabbis ♣Women Rabbis [also including examples from TV and Cinema] ♣Assimilation, Intermarriage, Patrilineality, and Human Sexuality ♣God, Israel, and Tradition This book draws upon sociological data, including the recent Pew Research Center survey on Jewish life in America, and presents a contemporary view of rabbis and their communities. The realities of the American rabbinate are then compared/contrasted with the ways fiction writers present their understanding of rabbinic life. The book explores illustrations from two hundred novels, short stories, and TV/cinema; representing well over 135 authors. From the first real-life women rabbis in the early 1970s to today’s statistics of close to 1,600 women rabbis worldwide, major changes have taken place. Women rabbis are transforming the face of Judaism. For example, this newly revised second edition of American Rabbis: Facts and Fiction reflects a fivefold increase in terms of examples of fictional women rabbis, from when the book was first published in 1998. There is new and expanded material on some of the challenges in the twenty-first century, women rabbis, human sexuality/LGBTQ matters, trans/post/non-denominational seminaries, and community-based rabbis.

The book has two audiences: prison inmates who want to start practicing Buddhism and volunteers from American sanghas who want to work with prison dharma groups. The book discusses the basics of meditation, compassion and precept practice within the correctional facility context. Whitney discusses some of the history of Buddhist involvement in American prisons as well as the history of constitutional interpretations of religious freedom as applied to inmates. The book is meant to be as practical as possible and it emphasizes Buddhism in action - through the precepts, peacemaking and sangha building inside and out.

Jonathan D. Sarna’s award-winning American Judaism is now available in an updated and revised edition that summarizes recent scholarship and takes into account important historical, cultural, and political developments in American Judaism over the past fifteen years. Praise for the first edition: “Sarna . . . has written the first systematic, comprehensive, and coherent history of Judaism in America; one so well executed, it is likely to set the standard for the next fifty years.”—Jacob Neusner, Jerusalem Post “A masterful overview.”—Jeffrey S. Gurock, American Historical Review “This book is destined to be the new classic of American Jewish history.”—Norman H. Finkelstein, Jewish Book World Winner of the 2004 National Jewish Book Award/Jewish Book of the Year

"A new assessment of the theological concept of martyrdom in light of those in Latin America who have given their lives while protecting the earth from those who threaten it"--