Is it possible to propose a world formed by love and interpreted from a feeling of wonder without falling into the doctrines inherent in the different religious languages?

Reflections of a Warrior is a Medal of Honor winner's true story—a Green Beret's six deadly years in the killing fields of Vietnam. PFC Franklin Miller arrived in Vietnam in March 1966, and saw his first combat in a Reconnaissance Platoon. So began an odyssey that would make him into one of the most feared and respected men in the Special Forces elite, who made their own rules in the chaos of war. In the exclusive world of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observation Group, Miller ran missions deep into enemy territory to gather intelligence, snatch prisoners, and to kill. Leading small bands of battle-hardened Montagnard and Meo tribesmen, he was fierce and fearless—fighting army policy to stay in combat for six tours. On a top-secret mission in 1970, Miller and a handful of men, all critically injured, held off the NVA in an incredible Alamo-like stand—for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. When his time in Southeast Asia ended, he had also received the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal, and six Purple Hearts. This is his incredible story.

Sometimes life throws you a curveball. Andrew and Rachel Wilson know what it means to live a life they never expected. As the parents of two children with special needs, their story mingles deep pain with deep joy in unexpected places. With raw honesty, they share about the challenges they face on a daily basis—all the while teaching what it means to weep, worship, wait, and hope in the Lord. Offering encouragement rooted in God's Word, this book will help you cling to Jesus and fight for joy when faced with a life you never expected.

Have you ever seen a wheelchair bound person with a smile bigger than you’ve smiled all week? Or a child with Down syndrome who is in a perpetual good mood, and you wonder, What’s the magic? Those moments are what make this daily devotional quite different. It is inspired by the words and actions of beautiful individuals with exceptionalities. The voices heard from the pages of this book include children with autism, Down syndrome, and cognition delay, to name a few. The language is simple, pure, refreshingly honest and reflects the author’s experience with this remarkable community which, some consider to be angels among us. This book is one of the first of its kind because it provides children with exceptionalities a limitless platform to teach and inspire. While often this community is encouraged to “change” or “improve,” they are quite perfect just as they are. Chances are if you interact with them, you will walk away in awe of their grounded trust in themselves and others, free of expectations. You will likely have a better day as a result of the interaction. At the center of this book is Drew, who is chronologically 22 years old but intellectually about 7. Every day, Drew passes out handmade rainbows that state, “You’re Special.”His mission is to remind everyone of their inner beauty that makes each individual special and unique. Let’s be eager students of individuals with exceptionalities and their unique experience. They have so much to share, and we have so much to gain! It’s where “special” meets truth—and in truth, there is wisdom. Enjoy your 365 days of reflections and embrace Drew’s purposeful words: “You’re Special.”

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head for days? Something abut its tune or lyrics impacts us and holds our attention. Why? How did the song come to be? Why was it written? And what does the song really mean? In Music for Your Heart, best-selling and award-winning author Ace Collins takes you behind the scenes of your favorite songs to show how the lyrics and music began. Through insider stories, artist bios, and inspiration from Scripture, Collins weaves stirring reflections on our adored and popular classics. Whether the featured song is a holiday carol, children’s worship tune, or love song, each short chapter will inspire curious music enthusiasts as well as those seeking a book for a devotional meditation. Digging deep into the words and history of the music, these uplifting and informative reflections will warm the heart—like the songs themselves. Songs include: - Jesus Loves Me - You Are My Sunshine - How Great Thou Art - White Christmas - Amazing Grace - Sweet, Sweet Spirit - Blue Moon - Jingle Bells - You Raise Me Up - Deep and Wide - I Will Always Love You - Moon River

**THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER** 'Rattling. Heartbreaking. Beautiful,' Atul Gawande, bestselling author of Being Mortal What makes life worth living in the face of death? At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity - the brain - and finally into a patient and a new father. Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both. 'A vital book about dying. Awe-inspiring and exquisite. Obligatory reading for the living' Nigella Lawson

A compendium for wine lovers: a prominent vintner shares a lifetime of great wines, famous friends, deep knowledge, and insider insights Reflections of a Vintner recounts the lessons learned, relationships forged, and observations made from an insider’s nearly fifty-year journey through the burgeoning wine industry in Napa Valley. From the mid-seventies, when there were less than fifty wineries, to the present, with over eight hundred, Tor Kenward shares his recollections as the region became a world-class wine destination. Following the calendar year, each chapter opens with the challenges and opportunities a winemaker faces that month—in the vineyard, winery, tasting room, and out on the road. In addition to the wine knowledge Kenward imparts, the vintner shares stories of his friendships with legends of the modern American food and wine scene, including Julia Child, André Tchelistcheff, Andy Beckstoffer, and Robert Mondavi, among others. Kenward’s hard work as a vintner was recently acknowledged and celebrated. In the October 2021 Judgment of Napa, held forty-five years after the historic Judgement of Paris, TOR Cabernet was judged to be #1, outscoring legendary Bordeaux châteaux, Napa Valley, and international peers by leading critics and sommeliers. TOR wines, coveted by connoisseurs worldwide, received seven perfect 100-point ratings from leading critics for their 2018 Napa Valley wines. An iconic winemaker, Kenward has written, taught, and lectured on wine most of his adult life. What he is most often asked about are not facts or numbers about his wines, but the stories behind them. These are stories of inspiration and wisdom that shaped his journey. With Kenward’s impressive connection to Napa Valley and his legacy of creating inimitable wines, Reflections of a Vintner offers entertaining insights into an often intimidating and complex but highly enjoyable world.

How our collective intelligence has helped us to evolve and prosper Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have permitted us to successfully expand into a vast range of diverse environments. What has enabled us to dominate the globe, more than any other species, while remaining virtually helpless as lone individuals? This book shows that the secret of our success lies not in our innate intelligence, but in our collective brains—on the ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another over generations. Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscientific findings, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich demonstrates how our collective brains have propelled our species' genetic evolution and shaped our biology. Our early capacities for learning from others produced many cultural innovations, such as fire, cooking, water containers, plant knowledge, and projectile weapons, which in turn drove the expansion of our brains and altered our physiology, anatomy, and psychology in crucial ways. Later on, some collective brains generated and recombined powerful concepts, such as the lever, wheel, screw, and writing, while also creating the institutions that continue to alter our motivations and perceptions. Henrich shows how our genetics and biology are inextricably interwoven with cultural evolution, and how culture-gene interactions launched our species on an extraordinary evolutionary trajectory. Tracking clues from our ancient past to the present, The Secret of Our Success explores how the evolution of both our cultural and social natures produce a collective intelligence that explains both our species' immense success and the origins of human uniqueness.