Argues that schadenfreude is a normal human emotion, looking at its roots in feelings of justice, positive sense of self, and concern with inferiority.

In Return to Joy, Bev DeSalvo shares her own story of healing from past pain to draw other women along a journey toward intimacy with their Savior. The road to healing is arduous and long. But when we bow our pain in worship, this broken road leads to the heart of God, where all masks are removed and divine comfort can be experienced. On this journey, understanding the true nature of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit brings healing and restoration to all father, relational, and mother wounds. Learning to aggressively fight against Satan, who is devious but not creative, replaces his evil lies with the truth of God so that they no longer define the person. Recognizing that God is always “with me” leads to a place of rest where there is no fear of being rejected or abandoned. As a result of these new insights, the reader can finally return to joy and experience emotional and spiritual balance. Out of the overflow of intimate worship, God becomes their refuge, provider, and protector, enabling them to move toward others in forgiveness and true community. Includes a ten-week Bible study.

Being happy depends on becoming a complete person— spirituality is the path that leads you to wholeness. “To become complete human beings, to find happiness, we need to develop our human spirits to the fullest. This is what it means to be spiritual: to be the best we can be; to exercise all the qualities and traits that are unique to humankind and that give us the identity as human beings. This spirituality is an integral component of being human, and we cannot have true and enduring happiness without it.” For many of us, the journey toward personal and spiritual fulfillment is fraught with unexplained feelings of emptiness in the struggle to reach what seems an elusive and murky goal. It doesn’t have to be this way. Using simple, accessible language and clear examples, this wellspring of wisdom shows you that true happiness is attainable once you stop looking outside yourself for the source and realize that it can be found within you. You will identify the unique abilities that comprise your human spirit—such as gratitude, humility, compassion, and generosity—and explore how to use them in ways that will not only remove your feelings of incompleteness, but also allow you to experience happiness in an invigorating and spiritually refreshing way. Based on ancient wisdom and modern psychology, the thoughtful, heartfelt anecdotes and inspiring, easy-to-follow exercises will carry you beyond your present state of discontent and open for you an entirely new path toward becoming the best you you can possibly be.

The title piece “A Hangari Jar” tells the story of the first jar made by a young potter. Unhappy with his first effort, the potter dumps the unsightly jar in his yard. The long-abandoned jar eventually finds use as a pisspot, but is forgotten once again as the potter dies and his kiln crumbles into ruin. The jar spends years in anguish, longing for meaning and value in life. Finally, it is discovered by the potter’s son, who returns to his father’s kiln as a monk. Building a temple and bell pavilion on the ruins, the monk awards the jar its long-awaited purpose—it is buried under the bell as a resonance chamber, giving the bell a clear, ringing tone. At long last, the once forlorn jar becomes “something precious for this world.” Reminding readers that waiting is not in vain, the jar muses, “No matter whose life it is, if you go on waiting and trying . . . life’s dream will come true.” The stories in Lonesome Jar: Poetic Fables follow the travails and triumphs of such objects and animals, presenting charmingly anthropomorphized fables. “Lovebirds” tells the story of a one-winged bird that can only fly after finding his other half; “Surprise Lilies” relates a tale of two cousins turned respectively into a flower and its leaves in punishment for their forbidden love; “The Seomjingang River” gives the account of a rebellious river that finally accepts its destiny of becoming the sea. The brief yet meaningful fables offer insight into the love, patience, and relationships of our human world; with compassion for life and its challenges, they whisper to readers that to live is to love and grow together. Lonesome Jar: Poetic Fables offers twenty such gems that demonstrate Jeong’s broad and integrative worldview that spans both Buddhist and Christian traditions.

Timshel was once the vacation spot of the galaxy, full of culture, natural beauty, and friendly, hospitable inhabitants. But now Timshel has cut itself off from the universe. No one is allowed to enter or leave. Concerned, the Federation has sent agents to investigate, but none have returned. Captain Kirk and the crew of the Starship EnterpriseTM are shocked to discover the truth: the people of Timshel have succumbed to an insidious new technology that guarantees every citizen total pleasure, a soul-destroying ecstasy that has enslaved their entire civilization. Kirk and Spock have faced many threats before, but now they face the most seductive menace of all: perfect happiness. And the rest of the Federation may soon fall under the irresistible control of the Joy Machine.

A different time - a different place. But you will live this story as if it were your own. When Kitty Barron meets her former lover, dashing and entrepreneurial Rufe Cavanagh, after sixteen years apart, it upsets her comfortable and settled life. It could be a chance to re-kindle their love but Rufe's scheming daughter has other ideas. From the timber town of Bulahdelah in rural NSW to the glittering court of Queen Victoria, follow the Barrons and the Cavanaghs through the twists and turns of their lives as the twnetieth century draws near.

Attacked by a black-eyed stranger, Joy Malone is accidentally trapped in a world of monsters and illusion where she must pretend to be the young man's chosen love and helper in order to escape a painful death.

Overcoming fear and guilt is the focus of this acclaimed spiritual guide. The three-part approach encompasses an explanation of the course's theory, exercises, and a manual in a question-and-answer format.