Within the religious and spiritual traditions of the world lies a mystery; a Tradition which has been transmitted from Initiate to Initiate since time immemorial. The keys of this Tradition can point the true seeker towards a Path that leads to self discovery, enlightenment and a deeper understanding of humanity's interconnectedness. The Rough and Rugged Road is a personal and experiential examination of this path.

The ancient Egyptians believed that, when a person passes from this world to the next, the Goddess MaÕat weighs their heart against the weight of a feather. If the heart was weighed down with troubles caused by actions taken during their lifetime, then the heart might outweigh the feather and their soul would be devoured. If the feather and the heart were balanced, and one did not outweigh the other, then it was the sign of a balanced and virtuous life. The Gray Feather is a publication dedicated to honest and balanced perspectives of the spiritual, philosophical, and religious mysteries of our world. It is a celebration of the truth that exists in the hearts of those who seek spiritual truth. We recognize that the world does not exist in absolutes; there is no black or white. Truth, therefore, exists in the shades of gray between.

. Renewal of Life by Transmission. The most notable distinction between living and inanimate things is that the former maintain themselves by renewal. A stone when struck resists. If its resistance is greater than the force of the blow struck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it is shattered into smaller bits. Never does the stone attempt to react in such a way that it may maintain itself against the blow, much less so as to render the blow a contributing factor to its own continued action. While the living thing may easily be crushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split into smaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), but loses its identity as a living thing. As long as it endures, it struggles to use surrounding energies in its own behalf. It uses light, air, moisture, and the material of soil. To say that it uses them is to say that it turns them into means of its own conservation. As long as it is growing, the energy it expends in thus turning the environment to account is more than compensated for by the return it gets: it grows. Understanding the word "control" in this sense, it may be said that a living being is one that subjugates and controls for its own continued activity the energies that would otherwise use it up. Life is a self-renewing process through action upon the environment.

Experienced commanders discuss anecdotes and case studies from their past operations.

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

Are you a church leader struggling to engage your congregation in global outreach and missions to the nations? Are you a Christian who feels spiritually tired and thirsty? Do you sometimes feel like giving up? You're not alone. In The Surge, author Pete Briscoe calls this time in history "Dry Lands," and we're stranded in it. But a "flood" of the power of God is coming. Are you and your church ready?

A perfect atmospheric thriller for this Halloween . . .