Purging The Grief

ON A QUIET SUNDAY MORNING , 16 year old Jacob Hughes was returning to a BOY SCOUT camp to fifi nish his youth leadership training. Less than 90 minutes after leaving home, the car he was driving crossed the centerline and crashed head-on into another sedan. Consequently, he and the other driver died at the scene. Is there anything on earth worse than witnessing your childs death? How about living each day and never knowing his or her whereabouts? Jacobs family never experienced the latter. However, when the state trooper read the DEATH NOTICE that Sunday morning, their lives were shaken to the core. How long should parents grieve when the one they loved died so tragically? His father wanted to die rather than live another day with the insufferable truth. Rather than bear the pain indefifi nitely, Douglas chose to PURGE THE GRIEF by writing about it. In essence, he looked at all the themes and events surrounding this tragedy and put them into a reader-friendly narrative. He expanded his thoughts to include many reflfl ections, stories which are connected affectionately or historically in some manner. By persevering through the psychological and emotional storms, God gently strengthened his faith and restored unity to his family.

Death of an Idealist is the biography of Neil Aggett, the only white person to die while being held in custody by South Africa's apartheid security police. A medical doctor who worked most of the week as an unpaid trade union organiser, Aggett's stark non-materialism, shared by his partner Dr Elizabeth Floyd, aroused suspicions. When their names appeared on a list of 'Close Comrades' prepared for opposition leaders in exile they were among a swathe of union activists detained in 1981. After 70 days in detention Aggett was found hanging from the bars of the steel grille in his cell in John Vorster Square. He was the 51st person, and the first white person, to die in detention. He was 28. His death provoked an enormous public outcry, his funeral attended by thousands of workers who marched through the streets of Johannesburg. This quiet, intense young man was, in death, a 'people's hero'. Born to settler parents in Kenya in 1953, Neil Aggett moved with his family to South Africa in early childhood. He attended school in Grahamstown before studying medicine at the University of Cape Town. Death of an Idealist explores the metamorphosis of a high-achieving, sports-loving schoolboy into a dedicated activist and unpaid trade union organiser. Beverley Naidoo traces Neil Aggett's life, in particular the years leading up to his detention as a result of a Security Branch 'sting' operation, the weeks of interrogation, and the inquest that followed his death. She recreates the momentous events of his life and, in doing so, reveals the extraordinary impact Neil's life had on those around him including his family, friends and comrades. Today, a generation later, South Africa is free and democratic. Yet the idealism and sacrifice displayed by Neil Aggett and so many others appears to have been replaced by cynicism and hand-wringing. Death of an Idealist is as much the story of a remarkable young man as it is a reminder that every generation needs its idealists.

Inspired by the website that the New York Times hailed as "redefining mourning," this book is a fresh and irreverent examination into navigating grief and resilience in the age of social media, offering comfort and community for coping with the mess of loss through candid original essays from a variety of voices, accompanied by gorgeous two-color illustrations and wry infographics. At a time when we mourn public figures and national tragedies with hashtags, where intimate posts about loss go viral and we receive automated birthday reminders for dead friends, it’s clear we are navigating new terrain without a road map. Let’s face it: most of us have always had a difficult time talking about death and sharing our grief. We’re awkward and uncertain; we avoid, ignore, or even deny feelings of sadness; we offer platitudes; we send sympathy bouquets whittled out of fruit. Enter Rebecca Soffer and Gabrielle Birkner, who can help us do better. Each having lost parents as young adults, they co-founded Modern Loss, responding to a need to change the dialogue around the messy experience of grief. Now, in this wise and often funny book, they offer the insights of the Modern Loss community to help us cry, laugh, grieve, identify, and—above all—empathize. Soffer and Birkner, along with forty guest contributors including Lucy Kalanithi, singer Amanda Palmer, and CNN’s Brian Stelter, reveal their own stories on a wide range of topics including triggers, sex, secrets, and inheritance. Accompanied by beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and witty "how to" cartoons, each contribution provides a unique perspective on loss as well as a remarkable life-affirming message. Brutally honest and inspiring, Modern Loss invites us to talk intimately and humorously about grief, helping us confront the humanity (and mortality) we all share. Beginners welcome.

In Heal Yourself with Qigong, acupuncturist and qigong expert Suzanne Friedman presents traditional Chinese energy techniques that renew energy and vitality, soothe the spirit, and calm the mind.

Part game show, part love story, part lecture exploring modern friendships. Purge addresses where online friendship stops and real friendship begins. In 2010, Brian discovered that his deceased ex-boyfriend and best friend, Grant, had deleted him from Friendster (a pre-Facebook networking site), which neither had checked since they stopped dating in 2006. Although they had since re-‘friended’ in life (both virtually and non-virtually), it was the discovery of this past de-friending (and impossibility to ‘reconnect’ since Grant’s death), which inspired Brian to create Purge in 2011. In 2011, Brian Lobel played a brutal game of friendship maintenance: over 5 days in cafés in both London and Kuopio, Finland, Brian gave strangers one minute to decide which of his 1300 Facebook friends to keep or delete. The deleting was real, the pace was maniacal, the results were final. 50 hours of performance, 800 emails from angry, amused and intrigued friends and over 2500 comments from people watching via live stream later, Purge is an interactive performance lecture exploring the process of, and fallout from purging and examines how we emotionally and socially interact with digital media.

Providing a personal, informed and cultural perspective on rites of passage for general readers, this text illustrates the power of rites to help us navigate life's troublesome transitions.

God cares about your clutter. We’re beginning to understand that we should be organized, but we don’t hear as much on why we should be organized. Why should it matter if our lives are disorganized? Purge with Passion: Organizing Principles from a Christian Perspective focuses on that question. This isn’t your average organizing book. If you see organization as a step to a happier and more productive life, then you’re partly right. But, what if there’s more? Our resources and possessions are meant to be used for God, but too often they distract us from God. Jodie Watson helps you free yourself from the clutter with practical and actionable advice. But she also explains that what truly matters is the heart behind your organization. Identify the ways the disorganization in your life can hinder you from pursuing God’s will. Take a deeper look at the things that God has entrusted to you. Adopt a biblical approach to ordering your life for God’s glory. Go beyond the surface and discover what’s at the very heart of your disorganization. God has a specific purpose for you and the world in which you live. Get ready to step out of the mess and step into God’s amazing plan for order.

When greed overtakes men’s souls, it falls to the righteous mountaineer known as Preacher to rain fire and brimstone upon them from the barrels of his guns . . . JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. THE SPIRIT OF COURAGE AND TRUE GRIT. Preacher has agreed to escort Barnaby Cooper through Dakota Territory’s hills to establish a trading post. Accompanied by his friends Lorenzo and Tall Dog, the mountain man hopes they’ll be able to protect Cooper from Sioux warriors who don’t want any white man trespassing on their sacred grounds. But the Sioux aren’t the only hostiles staking their claim in the region. Englishman Albion Shaw knows there’s gold in the hills. And with a band of cutthroat killers to do his bidding, Shaw has enough manpower and firepower to keep both trappers and tribes from settling on the land where he can build an empire. But Shaw didn’t reckon on crossing a man like Preacher. A man who not only knows what it takes to survive in the wilderness, but a man who will fight for freedom and justice to his very last breath—and his very last bullet . . . Live Free. Read Hard.