Neighbors And Wise Men

Hearing from God is extraordinary. But the circumstances He uses to reveal Himself may be more ordinary than we think. Neighbors and Wise Men introduces captivating dialogues and unexpected moments with God that go beyond the confines of a conventional religious system and offer the chance for powerful life transformation. Get to know Tony Kriz (known by many as "Tony the Beat Poet" in Donald Miller's best-selling book Blue Like Jazz) through his real-life conversations and experiences that prove that God can and will use anyone and anything— from Muslim lands to antireligious academics to post-Christian cultures—to make Himself known. Through his own prodigal-son backstory and return to faith, Tony presents biblical truth in a conversational, but bold light that offers readers the courage to open their eyes to the unlikely encounters that are all around us every day; chance run-ins that turn out to be anything but chance. Have we limited God's ability to speak in our world today? Have we relegated God's creative voice to the select persons who share our particular religious system? Kriz himself felt like he was falling out of faith until non-Christians encouraged him to "fall toward Christ."

After the old man's wife dies, the bills come in from her long illness. Forced into retirement and unable to afford the rent on his house, he move into an old hotel where he feels he will be for the final chapter of his life.

This book examines an undertheorized topic in the study of religion and sacred texts: the figure of the neighbor. By analyzing and comparing this figure in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts and receptions, the chapters explore a conceptual shift from "Children of Abraham" to "Ambiguous Neighbors." Through a variety of case studies using diverse methods and material, chapters explore the neighbor in these neighboring texts and traditions. The figure of the neighbor seems like an innocent topic at the surface. It is an everyday phenomenon, that everyone have knowledge about and experiences with. Still, analytically, it has a rich and innovative potential. Recent interdisciplinary research employs this figure to address issues of cultural diversity, gender, migration, ethnic relationships, war and peace, environmental challenges and urbanization. The neighbor represents the borderline between insider and outsider, friend and enemy, us and them. This ambiguous status makes the neighbor particularly interesting as an entry point into issues of cultural complexity, self-definition and identity. This volume brings all the intersections of religion, ethnicity, gender, and socio-cultural diversity into the same neighborhood, paying attention to sacred texts, receptions and contemporary communities. The Ambiguous Figure of the Neighbor in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Texts and Receptions offers a fascinating study of the intersections between Jewish, Christian and Islamic text, and will be of interest to anyone working on these traditions.

This volume is about the plurality and complexity of modern urban public spaces. The authors move far beyond the nostalgia of traditional streets, squares and gardens to mobilize contemporary sociological knowledge based on the mediated relations between spatial morphology and everyday life in cities across several continents.

An exploration of how the Windy City became a postwar Latinx metropolis in the face of white resistance. Though Chicago is often popularly defined by its Polish, Black, and Irish populations, Cook County is home to the third-largest Mexican-American population in the United States. The story of Mexican immigration and integration into the city is one of complex political struggles, deeply entwined with issues of housing and neighborhood control. In Making Mexican Chicago, Mike Amezcua explores how the Windy City became a Latinx metropolis in the second half of the twentieth century. In the decades after World War II, working-class Chicago neighborhoods like Pilsen and Little Village became sites of upheaval and renewal as Mexican Americans attempted to build new communities in the face of white resistance that cast them as perpetual aliens. Amezcua charts the diverse strategies used by Mexican Chicagoans to fight the forces of segregation, economic predation, and gentrification, focusing on how unlikely combinations of social conservatism and real estate market savvy paved new paths for Latinx assimilation. Making Mexican Chicago offers a powerful multiracial history of Chicago that sheds new light on the origins and endurance of urban inequality.

This book is the fi rst of a collection of four books of columns titled Just Between You and Me, Volume I, II, III, and IV. Since I wrote these columns in the eighties, many of them concern the joys and problems of raising a family. For instance, Marion could never keep a fl ashlight, and both he and the children kept destroying my spatulas. Just beginning my writing career, I had to search desperately for a corner for myself. Also, I share my thoughts on a wide variety of subjects, including inspirational thoughts, some of my favorite recipes, and my experience of going to college as a non-traditional student.