Soul Chasing: Thoughts and Prayers for the Rest of Us is a collection of poems and stories about what's real in life; it is a book about life, about love, and about Spirit. It is stories and poetry written for "the rest of us", those of us who, when living through the trials that face us every day, have come to a different side of life from where we've been before, to a more profound and richer side, where love plays a critical and fully conscious role. Traveling along this other side of life, the rest of us have learned to live in pursuit of the deeper understandings and meanings in our lives, where life and love really count. Soul Chasing also gives you the chance to write your own poems and thoughts and prayers in a special section at the end of the book. This is your chance to read and to muse and to contemplate - and to discover your own thoughts as well, by putting pen to paper at long last!

"And I thought I knew this crazy-brave black boy who bolted out of a Harlem ghetto into a white prep school and bobbed and weaved his way across the treacherous divide between black and white America. But Dennis Watlington's life story is even more astonishing than I knew. He emerges a no-jive black integrationist who is proud of the slave ancestry that makes him a solid American foreperson." -Gail Sheehy, bestselling author of Passages and Understanding Men's Passages Chasing America is a rollercoaster ride through promise and poverty, affirmative action and addiction, and a powerful story that captures a life and an era that is seminally American. Born in Harlem in 1952, Dennis developed a heroin habit at the age of 14, kicked it, and received a scholarship to the Hotchkiss School where he was elected president of his class. He went on to NYU, became involved in film and theater (he had a small role in The Deerhunter and gave Bruce Willis his start in a play called Bullpen), got addicted to crack, kicked that, and became an Emmy winning television writer. Chasing America shows us the best and worst that America offers to a Black man--from the Jim Crow South to boarding school life in New England to backstage at the Fillmore East to a holding cell in Bellevue Hospital. Part Ellison, part Exley, Chasing America is an amazing story.

Chasing Slow models HGTV star Erin Loechner's journey to help you break out of the faster-better-stronger trap and make small changes to refresh your perspective, renew your priorities, and shift your focus to what matters most. You're here, but you want to be there. So you spend your life narrowing this divide, and you call this your race, your journey, your path. You live your days tightening your boot straps, wiping the sweat from your brow, chasing undiscovered happiness just around the bend. And on and on you run. Viral sensation and HGTV.com star Erin Loechner knows about the chase. Before turning 30, she'd earned the title "The Nicest Girl Online" as she was praised for her authentic voice and effortless style. Her HGTV web show garnered over one million fans worldwide, and her client list includes Walt Disney World, IKEA, Martha Stewart and Home Depot. The New York Times applauded her, her friends and church admired her, and her husband and baby adored her. She had arrived at the ultimate destination. So why did she feel so lost? Through a series of steep climbs--her husband's brain tumor, bankruptcy, family loss, and public criticism--Erin learns just how much strength it takes to surrender it all, and to veer right into grace. In Chasing Slow, Erin upgrades her life through downsizing--her stuff, her obligations, her fears, her personal metric of "perfect." And ultimately, her invitation becomes yours: to turn away from the fast and frenzy, and find freedom in a new-fashioned lifestyle defined by grace. Life's answers are not always hidden where they seem. It's time to venture off the beaten path to see that we’ve already been given everything we need. We've already arrived. You see? You'll see.

A man in a live broadcast with a face that defied the heavens and the earth suddenly discovered that he had an additional mysterious ability. He could collect all sorts of ghosts and evildoers, and from then on, his luck would be limitless. He would open the most horrifying path to a live broadcast in the city ...

“Many people say you can fix a broken marriage, but Mark and Jill show you how.” —Dr. Juli Slattery, psychologist, author, and president of Authentic Intimacy No marriage is perfect. But every marriage can get better. Do you feel like the spark is gone? Like a critical spirit has invaded your marriage? Like you want more intimacy, but something is in the way? You could be suffering from the Perfection Infection. The Perfection Infection happens when we cultivate unrealistic expectations of ourselves and our spouse, gradually leading to intimacy-killing behavior, also known as the “Seven Slow Fades.” That was the case for Jill and Mark Savage, and it eventually led to infidelity. In No More Perfect Marriages they speak honestly about their struggles, how they came back from betrayal, and the principles keeping their marriage strong today. They guide you in everything you need to know to kick the Perfection Infection right out and return to intimacy. In their warm, honest, personable style, Jill and Mark discuss: How the Perfection Infection invades a marriage—even a good marriage How to detect and correct the Seven Slow Fades How to set and communicate realistic expectations What to do if your spouse just won’t change How to guard your marriage from the Perfection Infection for good Hurting marriages can heal, and good marriages can become great. It takes work, yes, but No More Perfect Marriages will give you the insights, language, and roadmap you need for the journey. So start today. GROUP RESOURCES: A leader’s guide is included in the back of the book. FREE video curriculum and additional group resources are available for No More Perfect Marriages at www.NoMorePerfect.com. _____ “[Replaces] the Hollywood mirage of a storybook romance with a healthy blueprint of a real and rock-solid relationships. If you're looking for an authentic story, practical how-to, and hope to build true and lasting love, you've found it." — Michele Cushatt, author, Undone: A Story of Making Peace With An Unexpected Life “… Will empower readers to create healthier responses when facing marital challenges… Excited [to add it] to our recommended resources for couples." — Michelle Nietert, licensed counselor “Vulnerable, honest, and helpful… If you want to improve, save, restore, or renew your marriage, read this book.” — Mike Baker, sr. pastor, Eastview Christian Church, Normal, Illinois “Encouraging and very practical!” — Shaunti Feldhahn, social researcher and bestselling author of For Women Only and For Men Only

Since the birth of the Yinyang Continent, the two races of Yin and Yang had been born and bred. The Yang Race possessed the attribute of 'goodness', and possessed all sorts of superpowers to defend their 'goodness'. The attribute of the Yin Clan was' evil '. Demons, demons, ghosts, and other creatures belonged to it. They wanted to enslave the Yang Clan and control the entire continent. A youth who had comprehended 'creating from nothing' from the 'Classic of Virtue' was not tolerated by the current Heavenly Dao and had his body destroyed. His soul, by chance and coincidence, was taken in by the Yinyang Continent and reborn into the body of an ordinary Yang Clan youth. None: "The Yang race is good, forsaken by the Evil God; the Yin race is evil, born of the Good God. Tell me what is evil and what is good? " Close]

Chasing the Blues explores the roots of the blues---the music birthed in the Mississippi Delta by African Americans who fashioned a new form of musical expression grounded in their shared experience of brutal oppression. They used the power of music to survive that oppression, creating a simple-in-structure, emotionally complex form that transformed and upended culture and became the bedrock of popular song. Tracing the music back to its geographical and cultural origins in the Delta is key to understanding how the blues were shaped. Over time, the Delta blues have touched virtually every form of popular music (rock and roll, soul, R&B, country-western, gospel), creating the soundscape of our lives. What makes this book unique? Fathoming how the music flowed from living and working conditions in the heart of the Deep South; appreciating how life-changing events like the Flood of 1927 sparked a mass migration away from plantation life, spreading the blues to the cities in the North and becoming the soundtrack to the civil rights movement; how blues musicians interacted, "cross-fertilizing" their music by learning, influencing, and imitating each other. The habits of travel are shifting, and there is more interest and a larger market for diving deep into destinations closer to home. Interest in Black history and culture and the role Black Americans played in shaping America is at an all-time high. By appreciating the roots of this most American style of music, readers will have a richer experience listening to songs and visiting blues' holy and sacred sites.

Largely unstudied by scholars of religion, folk Daoist ritual in north China has been a constant theme of Chinese music scholars. Stephen Jones places lay Daoists within the wider context of folk religious practices - including those of lay Buddhists, sectarians, and spirit mediums. Jones describes ritual sequences within funerals and temple fairs, offering details on occupational hereditary lay Daoists, temple-dwelling priests, and even amateur ritual groups. Stressing performance, Jones observes the changing ritual scene in this poor countryside, both since the 1980s and through all the tribulations of 20th-century warfare and political campaigns.