The School Of Dying Graces

2005 Gold Medallion Award finalist! The School of Dying Graces is the deeply honest and beautifully written account of two very different spiritual journeys-the journey of Dr. Richard Felix, then president of Azusa Pacific University, and that of his beloved wife, Vivian, a terminal cancer patient. From observing his wife prepare herself spiritually for dying, Dr. Felix discovers that special gifts-living graces-come to those who persevere through suffering. In this thought-provoking and inspiring story forged through his wife's victorious dying, Dr. Felix offers profound truths for those who want to live victoriously.

This is a book about living, even as one is dying. It is a book about the choices we make: choosing spiritual risk rather than security; choosing surrender to a hunger for God, rather than hanging on to life or fighting death. It is a book on how the quality of ones relationships with God, creation, self, and others can either help or hinder the dying process. Living well does indeed contribute to dying well. Dying with Grace: a Conscious Commitment to the Dying Process is the story of Franks ability to let go of control, enjoy his last days, and move toward the unknown and unknowable. Though alert in mind and spirit, Franks body was as good as paralyzed. Yet he remained curious about walking through the valley of death, leaning into the process with dignity and grace. Experiencing pain and suffering, joy and love, he lived life immersed in the rhythm of nature, and died in that same rhythm. To the very end, he never lost consciousness. Dying with Grace is written as a reflective text for family members who are caring for dying relatives; for parish workers, nurses, and social workers assisting individuals and families during the dying process. The book sheds light on what it means to die as one lives and invites the reader to contemplate just how the dying experience may be spiritually transformative for both family and friends as well as for the one who is passing. The frightened, the skeptical, the devastated, the hope-filled, faith believers and non-believers alike can benefit from this book.

Living and Dying with Grace is a book of aphoristic Sufi teachings on how to make one's way in the world—especially on how to bring spiritual insight to the affairs of daily life. Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam, contains a vast body of knowledge concerning the inner development of the complete human being. Among the greatest of Sufi masters, Hadrat 'Alî (598-661 CE), cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, is regarded as a paragon of compassion and virtue and a master of both exoteric and esoteric knowledge. He was not only a great warrior, statesman, and scholar, but also a devoted husband and father. Success in this life, 'Alî teaches, is bestowed on those who maintain generosity, intelligence, perseverance, integrity, and calm reflection. As for success in the hereafter, 'Alî says, "God, the Glorified, admits to Paradise anyone, at will, for truthfulness of intention and goodness of innermost thoughts." This book contains four hundred of Hadrat 'Alî's teachings, showing how people can use the everyday realities of their lives to cultivate wisdom and well-being, both temporal and eternal, offering a path to living and dying with grace.

In a world that waits for nothing, Sacred Waiting helps readers learn to wait on God. David Timms challenges believers to be attentive to God as were the faithful from Noah to David, from Paul to John--and all the saints in between. He demonstrates that their best moments arose from God's timing, not their own. In the process he reveals deep, transforming truths for those who want to go deeper into their relationship with God. Grounded in the stories of Scripture and everyday illustrations, Sacred Waiting explores a vital yet often neglected or misunderstood spiritual discipline.

God is closer than you think shows how you can enjoy a vibrant, moment-by-moment relationship with your heavenly Father. Not some abstract theological concept, but the real deal-intimate connection with a deeply personal God.

God does keep secrets. Even great heroes of faith like Abraham, Moses, and the Old Testament prophets faced mysteries about God and his kingdom. Understanding God's plans is like watching a train emerge from a tunnel: you can see the cars that have emerged and get a sense of where the train is going, but you can't see the cars still in the tunnel. While many details of God's revelation train are still shrouded, secrets hidden for centuries are now revealed to us. John Van Diest and Alton Gansky help us see and understand these secrets, which are hiding in plain sight in the words of Jesus and throughout the Bible.

Where do you go with the heartache you can’t even put into words? Whether you have lost a loved one to a prolonged illness or to an unexpected tragedy, it helps to encounter others who have walked a similar road and faced similar questions. When God & Grief Meet offers just that: Real-life stories that meet you in your sorrow and inspire you with the hope and strength to go on. Lynn Eib, a longtime patient advocate and grief support group facilitator, shares her gift of encouragement in this heartening message for mourners. You won’t find pat answers, clichés, or easy-fix formulas, but you will see that God specializes in consoling those who grieve. As Psalm 34:18 promises: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” This is the spirit of When God & Grief Meet: A book that will give comfort for your present and courage for your future.

In this brilliantly conceived and beautifully written book, Kathleen Dowling Singh illuminates the profound psychological and spiritual transformations experiences by the dying as the natural process of death reconnects them with the source of their being. Examining the end of life in the light of current psychological understanding, religious wisdom, and compassionate medical science, The Grace of Dying offers a fresh, deeply comforting message of hope and courage as we contemplate the meaning of our mortality. While the prevailing Western medical tradition has seen death as an enemy to be fought and overcome, Singh offers a richer and more rewarding path of understanding. Combining extensive training and education in developmental psychology with profound spiritual insight, she balances expert analysis with moving accounts drawn from her experiences working with hundreds of dying patients at a large hospice. Singh moves beyond the five stages of dying revealed in Kübler-Ross's classic On Death and Dying, and finds in the "nearing death experience" even more significant and forming stages of surrender and transcendence. These stages involve the qualities of grace: letting go, radiance, focusing inward, silence, a sense of the sacred, wisdom, intensity, and, in the end, a merging with Spirit. Through this intense process, we come to experience at last the reality of our true self, which transcends our finite ego and bodily existence, and our merging with the source of being from which we originated. Dying is safe. In clear, nontechnical language, Singh reveals the transformations that come with dying, using the vocabulary of growing Western, as well as Eastern, wisdom. Written for those aware that their life is coming to an end, those who care for the dying, and, ultimately, for all of us who inevitably face our owndeath and the deaths of the people we love, The Grace in Dying reveals that dying is the most transforming, powerful, and spiritually rich of life's experiences.