Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the Sunday, July 5, 2026 at 11 a.m. service on “Lost in the Twenty-First Century”, featuring Michael Clague. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. Lost in the Twenty-First Century: An Essay by Michael Clague along with contributions by Logan Brown and Lauryn Clague, 2026, 307 CLA
Written by a VanU member, and is a gift of the author.

2. Berlin Chronicle: On the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall by Michael Clague, 2025
Written by a VanU member, and is a gift of the author.

3. Canada’s Global Future – Navigating a New World by Lloyd Axworthy, 2003, 327.17 AXW
From the hardcover edition, in LibraryThing: “… charts how we can become active citizens in the demanding world of the twenty-first century, to make it safer, more sustainable and more humane. Throughout he emphasizes the human story. As we meet refugees from civil war and drought, child soldiers and landmine victims, the moral imperative is clear: this is a deeply compassionate appeal to confront poverty, war and environmental disaster. … When put into action, human security led to an international ban on landmines, initiatives to curtail the use of child soldiers, and the formation of the International Criminal Court. Today, with conflict raging across the planet — and building — the need for a humane, secure international governance is more vital than ever. … recommendations that are both practical and radical, ranging from staunch Canadian independence from the U.S. to environmental as well as political security; from rules to govern intervention when nations oppress their own citizens, to codes of conduct on arms control and war crimes. … lays out just why Canada has the skills to lead the world into a twenty-first century less nightmarish than the last, and help make the world safer and more just for us all. …”.

4. In Search of Progress in a Time of Fear and Disillusionment: Questions from a Life in Community Work, by Michael Clague, 2024, 307 CLA
Written by a VanU member, and is a gift of the author.. He writes, “In this time of multiple global crises, notably the coming climate collapse, the burden falls directly on communities. Community work is uniquely suited to mobilizing citizens for informed plans and actions in a democratic society. It offers a life raft of hope by calling on the best of the human spirit to solve these problems or at least survive them”.

5. So, How Have I Been Doing At Being Who I Am?, by Michael Clague, 2023, 921 CLA
Written by a VanU member, and is a gift of the author. Reviews from Amazon.ca: “I do not remember a book that moved me so much as this one.” – Ray Spaxman. Former Director of Planning, City of Vancouver.
“Should be in the library of every school of social work, social planning and planning.” – Gordon Gram. Development industry and environmental and land use public sector planner.
“I liked this book very much. In my career in publishing and philanthropy I’ve read about many inspiring people, and I’m really impressed with his story telling skills. Like a friend sharing some of his life story over a coffee or a beer.” – Karen Theroux. Former writer/editor for the Carnegie Corporation, New York].

6. In a Single Garment of Destiny: A Global Vision of Justice by Martin Luther King Jr and edited by Lewis V. Baldwin., 2013, 323 KIN
From LibraryThing: “… first book to treat King’s positions on global liberation struggles through the prism of his own words and activities. From the pages of this extraordinary collection, King emerges not only as an advocate for global human rights but also as a towering figure who collaborated with Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert J. Luthuli, Thich Nhat Hanh, and other national and international figures in addressing a multitude of issues we still struggle with today–from racism, poverty, and war to religious bigotry and intolerance. …”.

7. One World Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism by William Greider, 1997, 330.12 GRE
From LibraryThing: “Reflecting the viewpoints of politicians, workers, and others, the author assesses the global economy, points to problems of unregulated capital and labor, and proposes solutions the U.S. must take to lead the world economy onwards.”.

8. Global Responsibility: In Search of a New World Ethic by Hans Küng, 1991, 170.44 KUN
The Julian Fears Library. From LibraryThing: “… contains the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities, an account of the historical background to it, a discussion of its significance, and responses from around the world”.

9. Mobilize Food!: Wartime Inspiration for Environmental Victory Today by Eleanor Boyle, 2022, 338 BOY
Gift of Mary Bennett. From LibraryThing: “… recounts the dramatic story of World War II Britain, its Ministry of Food, and its millions of citizens who fought for their democracy partly by growing more, wasting less, and sharing scarce foods equitably so that everyone could feed themselves during an emergency and beyond. Highly relevant to today as we fight our battles for healthy environments and a liveable global climate, Mobilize Food! offers strategies for action and hope in our time. It shows that entire populations can remake food systems to be sustainable, healthy, and fair-and that just as people in the past were capable of greatness, so are we.”.

10. The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker, 2012, 303.609 PIN
From LibraryThing, the publisher description: “… cognitive scientist Steven Pinker shows that the past was much worse. … Pinker argues that thanks to the spread of government, literacy, trade, and cosmopolitanism, we increasingly control our impulses, empathize with others, debunk toxic ideologies, and deploy our powers of reason to reduce the temptations of violence.”.

11. Life, Money and Illusion: Living on Earth as if we want to stay by Mike Nickerson, 2008, 338.9 NIC
Gift of Norman Hoye. From LibraryThing: “A sustainable economic roadmap for a planet that matters and people who care.”.

12. Enough Blood Shed: 101 Solutions to Violence, Terror and War by Mary-Wynne Ashford with Guy Dauncey, 2006, 303.69 ASH
Signed by a co-author. From Amazon: “… confronts the reality of a world awash in weapons and the belief that war is inevitable, with people powerless to change the system. It provides an alternative perspective based on solutions known to be successful because they have been used already.
The first part of the book describes the culture of violence that has led the world to this precipice of hopelessness, and then points to signs of hope that a different future is possible. It outlines the steps being made to build a culture of peace, including the phenomenal power of civil society: the second superpower-or the conscience of society. Part Two then focuses on the solutions that are possible for all sectors of society: …
Focusing on the power of ordinary people to make a difference and packed with effective nonviolent success stories – often in a setting of hate and provocation – the book provides guidance, inspiration, hope and empowerment that peace is not only possible, but can be fun along the way.”.

13. Economic Democracy: The Working Class Alternative to Capitalism by Allan Engler, 2010, 330.12 ENG
Autographed by the author. From LibraryThing: “Identifying capitalism as a system of socialized labour, privately owned capitalist collectives (corporations) and workplace (dictatorships), this book proposes economic democracy as an alternative form of organization.”.

14. Trusting Change: Finding Our Way Through Personal and Global Transformation by Karen Hering, 2022, 248 HER
From LibraryThing: “… encourages readers to embrace change as a constant, using it as an opportunity for growth and adaptation. … designed to guide those experiencing significant life transitions, offering reflections and exercises to help integrate personal changes with broader societal shifts. It appeals to individuals seeking understanding and resilience in times of upheaval.”.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 11 a.m. service on “A Unitarian Uncyclical on AI”, featuring Paul Prescod. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee and Quifan Chen, 2021, 006 LEE
From LibraryThing: “… the former president of Google China and a leading writer of speculative fiction join forces to answer an urgent question: How will artificial intelligence change our world over the next twenty years? AI will be the defining issue of the twenty-first century, but many people know little about it apart from visions of dystopian robots or flying cars. Though the term has been around for half a century, it is only now, Kai-Fu Lee argues, that AI is poised to upend our society, just as the arrival of technologies like electricity and smart phones did before it. In the past five years, AI has shown it can learn games like chess in mere hours-and beat humans every time. AI has surpassed humans in speech and object recognition, even outperforming radiologists in diagnosing lung cancer. AI is at a tipping point. What comes next? Within two decades, aspects of daily life may be unrecognizable. Humankind needs to wake up to AI, both its pathways and perils. … In ten gripping short stories that crisscross the globe, coupled with incisive analysis, Lee and Chen explore AI’s challenges and its potential”.

2. A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going by Michael Wooldridge, 2021, 006 WOO
From LibraryThing: “From Oxford’s leading AI researcher … The somewhat ill-defined long-term aim of AI is to build machines that are conscious, self-aware, and sentient; machines capable of the kind of intelligent autonomous action that currently only people are capable of. As an AI researcher with 25 years of experience, professor Mike Wooldridge has learned to be obsessively cautious about such claims, while still promoting an intense optimism about the future of the field. There have been genuine scientific breakthroughs that have made AI systems possible in the past decade that the founders of the field would have hailed as miraculous. Driverless cars and automated translation tools are just two examples of AI technologies that have become a practical, everyday reality in the past few years, and which will have a huge impact on our world. While the dream of conscious machines remains, Professor Wooldridge believes, a distant prospect, the floodgates for AI have opened. …”.

3. The Big Disconnect: The Story of Technology and Loneliness by Giles Slade, 2012, 303.48 SLA
Written by a VanU member. From LibraryThing: “… the author offers a bracing look at an America where intimacy with machines is increasingly replacing mutual human intimacy. In a sweeping overview that ranges from the late nineteenth century to the present, he reveals how consumer technologies changed from analgesic devices that ameliorated the loneliness of a newly urban generation in the Gilded Age to prosthetic machines that act as substitutes for companionship in contemporary America. Mining insights from neuroscience, the author delves deeply into the history of this transformation, showing why Americans use certain technologies to mediate their connections with other human beings instead of seeking out face-to-face contacts. In a final investigative section, he describes ways in which some people are bucking the trend by consciously including interpersonal strategies that build empathy, community, and mutual acceptance. …”.

4. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv, 2008, 155.41 LOU
From LibraryThing: “I like to play indoors better because that’s where all the electrical outlets are, reports a fourth grader. But it’s not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It’s also their parents’ fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools’ emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime.
As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.
In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply – and find the joy of family connectedness in the process. …”.

5. The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay, 1998, 600 MAC
From LibraryThing: “Text and numerous detailed illustrations introduce and explain the scientific principles and workings of hundreds of machines. Includes new material about digital technology.”.

6. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, 2005, 330 LEV
From the publisher description on LibraryThing: “Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask …. The authors show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives–how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. … set out to explore the hidden side of everything. If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work.”.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the Sunday, June 21, 2026 at 11 a.m. service on “Is Happiness the Goal?”, featuring Rev. Shawn Gauthier. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, by the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams, 2016, 294 LAM
From LibraryThing: “Two leading spiritual masters share their wisdom about living with joy even in the face of adversity, sharing personal stories and teachings about the science of profound happiness and the daily practices that anchor their emotional and spiritual lives.”.

2. The Art of Happiness at Work by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, 2004, 294.3 BST
From LibraryThing: “… In psychiatry and according to the Dalai Lama, our motivation for working determines our level of satisfaction. The Art of Happiness at Work explores these three levels of focus: ? Survival: focus on salary, stability, food and clothing ? Career: focus on advancement ? Calling: focus on work as a higher purpose. Dr. Cutler probes the Dalai Lama’s wisdom by posing these questions: What is the relationship between self-awareness and work? How does lack of freedom at work affect our levels of happiness? How can we deal with boredom or lack of challenge? Job change and unemployment? How much of our misery comes from our identity being tied up with work? Dr. Cutler walks us through the Dalai Lama’s reasoning so that we may know how to apply his wisdom to daily life. …”.

3. Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort of Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach, 1995, 158.12 BAN
From LibraryThing: “… is responsible for introducing two hugely popular concepts — the “Gratitude Journal” and the term “Authentic Self.” With daily inspirational meditations and reflections, the Simple Abundance phenomenon became a touchstone for a generation of women, helping them to reclaim their true selves, find balance during life’s busiest moments, and rediscover what makes them truly happy. … A perennial classic whose time has come again, Sarah’s work celebrates quiet joys, simple pleasures, and well-spent moments and reminds us how to find the beauty in the everyday.”.

4. The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents: Guiding Your Children to Success and Fulfillment by Deepak Chopra, 1997, 649.1 CHO
From LibraryThing: “… to parents around the world who wish to raise children with values that satisfy spiritual needs as well as create the experience of abundance. After a general discussion of parenting and the gift of spirit, this book explores specific ways to practice the seven spiritual laws as a family, how to convey these laws to children depending on their ages, and how to embody them in age–specific activities each day, beginning on Sundays with the law of pure potentiality. …”.

5. The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy & Liberation by Thich Nhat Hanh, 1999, 294 NHA
From LibaryThing: “… comforting wisdom about the nature of suffering and its role in creating compassion, love, and joy – all qualities of enlightenment.  “Thich Nhat Hanh shows us the connection between personal, inner peace, and peace on earth.”–His Holiness the Dalai Lama. … introduces us to the core teachings of Buddhism and shows us that the Buddha’s teachings are accessible and applicable to our daily lives….  is a radiant beacon on Buddhist thought for the initiated and uninitiated alike.”.

6. Happiness in a Storm: Facing Illness and Embracing Life as a Healthy Survivor by Wendy Schlessel Harpham, 2005, 155.9 HAR
From LibraryThing: “… Wendy Schlessel Harpham, MD, offers her program to getting good care and finding happiness when you are sick. Having coined the term “Healthy Survivor” while dealing with her own chronic lymphoma, Harpham encourages people dealing with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or any prolonged illness to simultaneously do all they can to overcome disease and live life to the fullest. Harpham opens our eyes to the opportunities for happiness in life despite medical problems and even because of illness.”.

7, Wired for music: a search for health and joy through the science of sound by Adriana Barton, 2022, 781 BAR
Donated by Leslie Hill. From LibraryThing: “… captivating blend of science and memoir, a health journalist and former cellist explores music as a source of health, resilience, connection, and joy. Music isn’t just background noise or a series of torturous exercises we remember from piano lessons. In the right doses, it can double as a mild antidepressant, painkiller, sleeping pill, memory aid–and enhance athletic performance while supporting healthy aging. Though music has been used as a healing strategy since ancient times, neuroscientists have only recently discovered how melody and rhythm stimulate core memory, motor, and emotion centers in the brain. …”.

8. Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation by Joseph Campbell, 2004, 201.3019
From LibraryThing: “… one of the basic functions of myth is to help each individual through the journey of life, providing a sort of travel guide or map to reach fulfillment — or, as he called it, bliss. … anchors mythology’s symbolic wisdom to the individual, applying the most poetic mythical metaphors to the challenges of our daily lives. Campbell dwells on life’s important questions. Combining cross-cultural stories with the teachings of modern psychology, he examines the ways in which our myths shape and enrich our lives and shows how myth can help each of us truly identify and follow our bliss.”.

9. Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith, 2006, FIC MCC
From LibraryThing: “Life is good for Mma Ramotswe as she sets out with her usual resolve to solve people’s problems, heal their misfortunes, and untangle the mysteries that make life interesting. And life is never dull on Tlokweng Road. A new and rather too brusque advice columnist is appearing in the local paper. Then, a cobra is found in the offices of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Recently, the Mokolodi Game Preserve manager feels an infectious fear spreading among his workers, and a local doctor may be falsifying blood pressure readings. To further complicate matters, Grace Makutsi may have scared off her own fiance. Mma Ramotswe, however, is always up to the challenge. …”.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the Sunday, June 14, 2026 at 11 a.m. service on “Walking on Sunshine: Opening Our Hearts to a Playful Summer”, featuring Janet Pivnick. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv, 2008, 155.41 LOU
From LibraryThing: “I like to play indoors better because that’s where all the electrical outlets are, reports a fourth grader. But it’s not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It’s also their parents’ fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools’ emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations, and even organizations devoted to the outdoors are placing legal and regulatory constraints on many wild spaces, sometimes making natural play a crime.
As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.
In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply – and find the joy of family connectedness in the process. …”.

2. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Carlton Abrams, 2016, 294 LAM
From LibraryThing: “… From the beginning the book was envisioned as a three-layer birthday cake: their own stories and teachings about joy, the most recent findings in the science of deep happiness, and the daily practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives. Both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu have been tested by great personal and national adversity, and here they share their personal stories of struggle and renewal. Now that they are both in their eighties, they especially want to spread the core message that to have joy yourself, you must bring joy to others.
Most of all, during that landmark week in Dharamsala, they demonstrated by their own exuberance, compassion, and humor how joy can be transformed from a fleeting emotion into an enduring way of life”.

3. Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort of Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach, 1995, 158.12 BAN
From LibraryThing: “…  is responsible for introducing two hugely popular concepts – the “Gratitude Journal” and the term “Authentic Self.” With daily inspirational meditations and reflections, the Simple Abundance phenomenon became a touchstone for a generation of women, helping them to reclaim their true selves, find balance during life’s busiest moments, and rediscover what makes them truly happy.
Simple Abundance‘s powerful messages are needed now more than ever, as we navigate the discord and stress instigated by a constant stream of “breaking news” cycles, and our 24/7 social media culture. … address the needs of a new generation, with her signature candor, wit, and wisdom that made her a trusted and compassionate confidant for millions of women.
…, Sarah’s work celebrates quiet joys, simple pleasures, and well-spent moments and reminds us how to find the beauty in the everyday”.

4. A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles, edited by M. J. Ryan, 1994, 291.4 RYA
From LibraryThing: “Today there is a deep hunger for connection with ourselves, with nature, and with others, …. What A Grateful Heart offers, from a wide variety of spiritual disciplines and secular perspectives, is a way of satisfying that hunger by setting aside time before we eat to acknowledge the blessings in our lives. When we give thanks, we take our place in the great wheel of life, recognizing our connection to one another and to all of creation. … Drawing from a range of religious and cultural practices, the 365 blessings in this book celebrate friendship, love, peace, reconciliation, the body, nature, joy, and appreciation of the moment. … includes quotations from Martin Luther King Jr., Thich Nhat Hanh, Gandhi, Rumi, Mother Teresa, Helen Keller, Denise Levertov, the Bible, and the Tao Te Ching, among many others.”.

5. A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold, 1949, 508.73 LEO
Gift of Carolyn and Max Gaebler, UCV minister. From LibraryThing: “… praised in the New York Times Book Review as “full of beauty and vigor and bite”, … combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America’s relationship to the land. As the forerunner to such important books as Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire, and Robert Finch’s The Primal Place, this classic work remains as relevant today as it was more than seventy years ago.”.

6. Wired for music: a search for health and joy through the science of sound by Adriana Barton, 2022, 781 BAR
Donated by Leslie Hill. From LibraryThing: “… captivating blend of science and memoir, a health journalist and former cellist explores music as a source of health, resilience, connection, and joy. Music isn’t just background noise or a series of torturous exercises we remember from piano lessons. In the right doses, it can double as a mild antidepressant, painkiller, sleeping pill, memory aid–and enhance athletic performance while supporting healthy aging. Though music has been used as a healing strategy since ancient times, neuroscientists have only recently discovered how melody and rhythm stimulate core memory, motor, and emotion centers in the brain. But here’s the catch: We can tune into music every day and still miss out on some of its potent effects. … Traveling from state-of-the-art science labs to a remote village in Zimbabwe, her investigation gets to the heart of music’s profound effects on the human body and brain. Blending science and story, Wired for Music shows how our species’ age-old connection to melody and rhythm is wired inside us.”.

7. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, 2000, FIC KIN
From LibraryThing: “… a hymn to wildness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself. Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives in southern Appalachia. At the heart of these intertwined narratives is a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. … Over the course of one long summer, these characters find connections to one another, and to the land, and the final, urgent truth that humans are only one piece of life on earth.”.

8. Sophia Lyon Fahs: A Biography by Edith F. Hunter, 1966, 921 FAH
Gift of Mary Hamilton. Published by Beacon Press. From UUA.org: “”Celebrating Unitarian Women in History” Feb 16, 2016 – Notable Universalist educators, such as Sophia Lyon Fahs, revolutionized religious education by emphasizing a child’s natural wonder and engagement over rote memorization, paving the way for experiential learning and interactive spiritual play.”

9. Reflections at Walden: Selected Writings of Henry David Thoreau by Henry David Thoreau, 1968, 818.4 THO
The key Unitarian book about a healing delight in nature.

10. Henry Hikes to Fitchburg (A Henry Book) by D.B. Johnson, 2000, J+ JOH
Gift of Mary McDonald. From the Wikipedia summary: “… is about two friends who have very different approaches to life. When the two agree to meet one evening in Fitchburg, which is thirty miles away, Henry decides to walk while his friend plans to work all day to earn the fare for a train ticket. Both friends are curious to see who will be the first to arrive in Fitchburg. Although Henry’s friend arrives first, Henry has enjoyed the sights and nature during his walk to Fitchburg, has splashed in a river and eaten blackberries. …”

11. Emerson in His Journals by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1984, 814.3 EME
Emerson wrote “It is a happy talent to know how to play,” in his journal of April 19, 1835 – Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, vol.3, 1833-1835

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 11 a.m. service on “Bridging Sunday”, featuring Rev. Shawn Gauthier & Youth Group. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. Seasons of Life: Our Dramatic Journey from Birth to Death by John Kotre and Elizabeth Hall, 1990, 155 KOT
From LibraryThing: “Throughout the ages and in every culture, people have used the seasons as a metaphor to mark life’s transitions and to help understand the purpose and meaning of our mortal journey. In the last few decades, there has been an astonishing growth in our knowledge of human development through the entire life span; at the same time, there has been dramatic change in the timetables of our lives. … , interprets the fascinating work and discoveries of hundreds of social scientists and, through the personal stories of dozens of ordinary individuals, reveals the rich drama of life’s passages at the end of the twentieth century.”.

2. Guide My Feet: Prayers and Meditations on Loving and Working for Children by Marian Wright Edelman, 1995, 242.6 EDE
Published by Beacon Press. From LibraryThing: “… the well-being of America’s children by providing a counterweight to the lesson society is teaching this generation of children – to be soulless takers instead of empowered givers. Guide My Feet is a collection of prayers and meditations gathered from Edelman’s own holiday rituals and experiences and the writings of such inspiring leaders as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Frederick Douglass. It urges readers to commit to and pray for strength and patience, and offers solace and direction for parents troubled by the commercialism and violence running rampant in today’s society. Filled with wisdom, compassion and understanding, it provides an important spiritual and moral resource all caregivers can turn to as they strive to instill values, integrity, self-discipline and faith in children.”.

3. Girl Within by Emily Hancock, 1990, 155.63 HAN
From LibraryThing: “Using the life stories of twenty women, psychologist Emily Hancock has identified a turning point in a women’s life when a girl crystallizes a distinct and vital sense of self, which she then loses in the process of growing up, and tries to regain as an adult. …”.

4. Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It by Richard V. Reeves, 2024, 305 REE
From LibraryThing: “Boys and men are struggling. Profound economic and social changes of recent decades have many losing ground in the classroom, the workplace, and in the family. While the lives of women have changed, the lives of many men have remained the same or even worsened. Our attitudes, our institutions, and our laws have failed to keep up. Conservative and progressive politicians, mired in their own ideological warfare, fail to provide thoughtful solutions. … Richard V. Reeves has spent twenty-five years worrying about boys both at home and work. … looks at the structural challenges that face boys and men and offers fresh and innovative solutions that turn the page on the corrosive narrative that plagues this issue. …”.

5. The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours by Marian Wright Edelman, 1992, 649.1 EDE
Published by Beacon Press. From LibraryThing: “A message for parents trying to raise moral children, an open letter to all of America, a timely message of hope and purpose.”.

6. Education and the Good Life by Bertrand Russell, 1926, 192 RU
From LibraryThing: “… Russell calls for an education that would liberate the child from unthinking obedience to parental and religious authority. He argues that if the basis of all education is knowledge wielded by love then society can be transformed. One of Bertrand Russell’s most definitive works, the remarkable ideas and arguments in On Education are just as insightful and applicable today as they were on first publication in 1926.”]

7. The Story of Your Life: Writing a Spiritual Autobiography by Dan Wakefield, 1990, 808.2 WAK
Published by Beacon Press. From LibraryThing: “Dan Wakefield shows us how to write about and share our most meaningful life experiences and in so doing to see our lives in a new light.”.

8. Trusting Change: Finding Our Way Through Personal and Global Transformation by Karen Hering, 2022, 248
From LibraryThing: “… offers pastoral support and spiritual skills building for individuals on the cusp of personal change within the collective context of a world that is reshaping itself at a faster pace than ever. … Hering does not pretend that change is easy but notes its inevitability and some of the ways readers can participate in it, allowing them to trust it more in the future. … Sharing wisdom found in nature and in metaphors, the reflections include evocative questions and creative, often embodied exercises that invite the reader into a larger story of change. This book is a conversation with the reader meant to also stir conversations between readers as we learn to live into and through our transformative times together.”.

9. The Seasoned Soul: Reflections on Growing Older by Eliza Blanchard, 2012, 204.4 BLA
Published by Skinner House Books. From LibraryThing: “Youth is a gift of nature. Aging is a work of art. No matter where we are on the path, growing older is a journey we all share. … provide guidance and encouragement, for navigating life changes, dealing with fear, retaining dignity and passion, and living a life of meaning. …”.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 11 a.m. service on “The Love We Leave Behind”, featuring Rev. Shawn Gauthier. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. How to Write and Deliver a Loving Eulogy by Leo Seguin, edited by Glen Semenchuk, 1998, 155.9 SEG
From LibraryThing: “When asked by family or friends to deliver a eulogy, there is usually very little time for planning. This book is designed as a guide to help you build and deliver a loving eulogy. It will provide, in a concise form, a vehicle of expression produced with empathy and compassion. The prose will be constructed from your own personal thoughts, your generous emotions, your caring hands, hands imbued with loyalty and worthy purpose (using our tools) you are a child of God. …”.

2. Living through Mourning: Finding Comfort and Hope When a Loved One Has Died by Harriet Sarnoff Schiff, 1987, 150 SCH
From LibraryThing: “… shares advice to help mourners find comfort amidst grief and hope when a loved one has passed. Supported by interviews with the bereaved and with funeral directors, therapists, and clergymen, this reference helps guide mourners through the grieving process.”.

3. Straight Talk about Death for Teenagers: How to Cope with Losing Someone You Love by Earl A. Grollman, 1993, 155.9 GRO
From LibraryThing: “Suggests ways to deal with the grief and other emotions felt after the death of a loved one and to discover how to go on living.”.

4. I Love Gootie: My Grandmother’s Story by Max Apple, 1998, 921 APP
From LibraryThing: “… Apple takes a heartwarming and hilarious look at the life of his grandmother. While much of Gootie’s advice was hilariously off-target, she taught Apple about the power of love and the art of storytelling.”.

5. Norman Bethune, His Times and His Legacy, edited by David A. E. Shephard and Andrée Lévesque, 1982, 921 BET
Review by John Richard Schrock in Amazon: “… in many ways, Norman Bethune was the pioneer in operating a M*A*S*H unit, the mobile army surgical hospital that was portrayed on American television in the 1970s. Bethune had earlier been a pioneer in getting blood to the frontlines for transfusion into injured soldiers in the republican troop efforts against the fascists in Franco’s war in Spain, and this was just another step forward toward saving lives of injured soldiers just behind the frontlines. … major impact Bethune had in China, being their foremost example of a committed foreign friend of the Chinese people and understood even today as their most revered Westerner, and taught throughout their schools.”.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the Sunday, May 24, 2026 at 11 a.m. service on “Liberating Love in the Midst of Hate”, featuring Janet Pivnick. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. Embracing Israel/Palestine: A Strategy to Heal and Transform the Middle East by Michael Lerner, 2011, 956.05 LER
From the publisher, in LibraryThing: “… continuing attempt to explain the current struggles between Israel and Palestine in a way that is sympathetic to both sides and provides a strategy to building a lasting peace based on acceptance, generosity, and open-hearted reconciliation”.

2. We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work by Jimmy Carter, 2009, 956.05 CAR
From LibraryThing: “… For the last three decades, as President of the United States and as founder of The Carter Center, Carter has studied the complex and interrelated issues of the region’s conflicts and has been actively involved in reconciling them. He knows the leaders of all factions who will need to play key roles, and he sees encouraging signs. Carter describes the history of previous peace efforts and why they fell short. He argues persuasively that the road to a peace agreement is now open and that it has broad international and regional support. …”.

3. Enough Blood Shed: 101 Solutions to Violence, Terror and War by Mary-Wynne Ashford with Guy Dauncey, 2006, 303.69 ASH
Signed by a co-author. From Amazon: “… confronts the reality of a world awash in weapons and the belief that war is inevitable, with people powerless to change the system. It provides an alternative perspective based on solutions known to be successful because they have been used already.
The first part of the book describes the culture of violence that has led the world to this precipice of hopelessness, and then points to signs of hope that a different future is possible. It outlines the steps being made to build a culture of peace, including the phenomenal power of civil society: the second superpower-or the conscience of society. Part Two then focuses on the solutions that are possible for all sectors of society: …
Focusing on the power of ordinary people to make a difference and packed with effective nonviolent success stories – often in a setting of hate and provocation – the book provides guidance, inspiration, hope and empowerment that peace is not only possible, but can be fun along the way.”.

4. I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey by Izzeldin Abuelaish, 2010, 956.94 ABU
From LibraryThing: “Harvard-trained Palestinian doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish’s recounts his extraordinary life of devotion to medicine and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.”.

5. The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace by Howard Zinn, 2002, 327.17 WEI
Beacon Press publication. From the book jacket, at LibraryThing: “… presents the most salient and persuasive arguments for peace in the last 2,500 years of human history. Arranged chronologically, covering the major conflagrations in the world. The Power of Nonviolence is a compelling step forward in the study of pacifism, a timely anthology that fills a void for people looking for responses to crisis that are not based on guns or bombs.”.

6. Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Kurlansky, foreword by the Dalai Lama, 2008, 303.61 KUR
From LibraryThing: “… discusses nonviolence as a distinct entity, a course of action, rather than a mere state of mind. Nonviolence can and should be a technique for overcoming social injustice and ending wars, he asserts, which is why it is the preferred method of those who speak truth to power. Nonviolence is a sweeping yet concise history that moves from ancient Hindu times to present-day conflicts raging in the Middle East and elsewhere. Kurlansky also brings into focus just why nonviolence is a “dangerous” idea, and asks such provocative questions as: Is there such a thing as a “just war”? Could nonviolence have worked against even the most evil regimes in history? Kurlansky draws from history twenty-five provocative lessons on the subject that we can use to effect change today. He shows how, time and again, violence is used to suppress nonviolence and its practitioners-Gandhi and Martin Luther King, for example; that the stated deterrence value of standing national armies and huge weapons arsenals is, at best, negligible; and, encouragingly, that much of the hard work necessary to begin a movement to end war is already complete. It simply needs to be embraced and accelerated. …”.

7. Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson, 2009, 371.82 MOR
From LibraryThing: “… recounting his relentless, ongoing efforts to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan; his extensive work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2005; and the unique ways he has built relationships with Islamic clerics, militia commanders, and tribal leaders even as he was dodging shootouts with feuding Afghan warlords and surviving an eight-day armed abduction by the Taliban.”.

8. Freedom from War: Nonsectarian Pacifism, 1814-1914 by Peter Brock, 1991, 327.1 BRO
Makes reference to Unitarian pacifists. Autographed by the author. From LibraryThing: “… presents peace activism as historically including two groups: those who reject war on grounds of conscience, and the internationalists who, without the same commitment of conscience, nonetheless strive to accomplish a warless world. He discusses the early Anglo-American peace movement and the dispute between its two principle groups, the 1838 pacifist radical abolitionists, pacifism during the Civil War, and Tolstoyism. …”.

9. The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong, 2001, 273 ARM
From the book jacket, in LibraryThing: “”… shows us how and why fundamentalist groups came into existence and what they yearn to accomplish.” … “Armstrong characterizes fundamentalism as one of these new ways of being religious that have emerged in every major faith tradition. …” “Armstrong sees fundamentalist groups as complex, innovative, and modern – rather than as throwbacks to the past – but contends that they have failed in religious terms. Maintaining that fundamentalism often exists in symbiotic relationship with an aggressive modernity, each impelling the other on to greater excess, she suggests compassion as a way to defuse what is now an intensifying conflict.””.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the Sunday, May 17, 2026 at 11 a.m. service on “On the Lookout for Love”, featuring Rev. Shawn Gauthier. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. Love, Power, and Justice: Ontological Analyses and Ethical Applications by Paul Tillich, 1954, 241 TIL
The Julian Fears Library. From LibraryThing: “… he makes a basic analysis of love, power, and justice, all concepts fundamental in the mutual relations of people, of social groups, and of humankind to God. His concern is to penetrate to the essential, or ontological foundation of the meaning of each of these words and thus save them from the vague talk, idealism, cynicism, and sentimentality with which they are usually treated. The basic unity of love, power, and justice is affirmed and described in terms that are fresh and compelling.”.

2. Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies by Sofía Betancourt, 2025, 280 BET
From inSpirit: “… In response to the Article II Study Commission and the final adopted language of Article II outlining our shared values, it is clear that the value most describe as central to their faith, to their living, and to the mission of their congregations is love itself. We are a people guided by, and centered in, our engagement with all that love requires.
Our pressing task now is to ask ourselves and each other how this understanding calls us forward, individually and collectively. We may agree that love is central, but what does that mean to us and what does it require of us? It is in that spirit that we asked more than two dozen leaders in our movement the question of what it means to put love at the center of our faith.
In these pages, you’ll find personal testimony to love’s power, reminders of the centrality of love throughout the long histories of Universalism and Unitarianism, and theologies of love drawn from many different expressions of Unitarian Universalism – from the natural world to the justice rally, to a loved one’s deathbed, to the quiet moment before a worship service begins”.

3. Guide My Feet: Prayers and Meditations on Loving and Working for Children by Marian Wright Edelman, 1995, 242.6 EDE
Published by Beacon Press. From LibraryThing: “… providing a counterweight to the lesson society is teaching this generation of children – to be soulless takers instead of empowered givers. Guide My Feet is a collection of prayers and meditations gathered from Edelman’s own holiday rituals and experiences and the writings of such inspiring leaders as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Frederick Douglass. It urges readers to commit to and pray for strength and patience, and offers solace and direction for parents troubled by the commercialism and violence running rampant in today’s society. Filled with wisdom, compassion and understanding, it provides an important spiritual and moral resource all caregivers can turn to as they strive to instill values, integrity, self-discipline and faith in children.”.

4. Solidarity Is the Political Version of Love: Lessons from Jewish Anti-Zionist Organizing by Rebecca Vilkomerson, 2024, 320 VIL
From LibraryThing: “… explores the evolution and impact of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an organization advocating for Palestinian rights and justice. … in-depth look at the organization’s internal dynamics, challenges, and strategies in building a political home, confronting antisemitism, and nurturing partnerships. It highlights JVP’s commitment to racial justice, its role in the anti-Zionist movement, and its efforts to sustain growth amidst external pressures. The authors combine memoir, history, and political criticism to offer insights into organizing for justice and solidarity. This work is aimed at activists and those interested in political movements and social justice.”.

5. All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks, 2018, 306 HOO
From LibraryThing: “… reveals what causes a polarized society, and how to heal the divisions that cause suffering. Here is the truth about love, and inspiration to help us instill caring, compassion, and strength in our homes, schools, and workplaces. …”.

6. Lotta and the Unitarian Service Committee Story by Clyde Sanger, 1986, 921 HIT
From CM Archive: “… Lotta’s secure life in Prague was shattered by the war that left her homeless, and ultimately an orphan. In 1942 she arrived in Canada, and almost immediately started trying to alert Canadians to problems of European war victims. The USC, which she organized in Canada, started with European relief work and expanded to relief and rehabilitation programs in Korea, India, the Gaza strip, and Vietnam. Details of the successes and frustrations of Lotta’s efforts reveal a remarkably capable, persistent, and brave individual. … describing the recent shift in emphasis from small projects, with close personal contact, to larger integrated community development schemes. …”.

7. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson, 2014, 921 STE
From LibraryThing: “… Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship – and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice. …”.

8. Embracing Israel/Palestine: A Strategy to Heal and Transform the Middle East by Michael Lerner, 2011, 956.05 LER
From the publisher, on LibraryThing: “… presents Rabbi Michael Lerner’s continuing attempt to explain the current struggles between Israel and Palestine in a way that is sympathetic to both sides and provides a strategy to building a lasting peace based on acceptance, generosity, and open-hearted reconciliation”.

9. Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD, 2006, 242 KAB
From LibraryThing: “… With scientific rigor, poetic deftness, and compelling personal stories, Jon Kabat-Zinn examines the mysteries and marvels of our minds and bodies, describing simple, intuitive ways in which we can come to a deeper understanding, through our senses, of our beauty, our genius, and our life path in a complicated, fear-driven, and rapidly changing world. In each of the book’s eight parts, Jon Kabat-Zinn explores another facet of the great adventure of healing ourselves — and our world — … By “coming to our senses” — both literally and metaphorically by opening to our innate connectedness with the world around us and within us — we can become more compassionate, more embodied, more aware human beings, and in the process, contribute to the healing of the body politic as well as our own lives in ways both little and big.”.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the upcoming service on “Life Insurance”, featuring Rev. Shawn Gauthier on Sunday, May 10, 2026 at 11 a.m. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. The Addiction Ministry Handbook: A Guide for Faith Communities by Denis G. Meacham, 2004, 259.42 MEA
From a review by uufnn on LibraryThing: “… Rev. Patricia Hoertdoerfer, Children, Family and Intergenerational Programs Director, UUA said of this book, “Faith communities can and do make a difference in the lives of families struggling with addiction problems! Meacham’s ‘Addiction Ministry Handbook’ is an excellent resource for Unitarian Universalist congregations and their lay leaders–for the knowledge found on every page, the inclusive attention to our broad spiritual foundations and the practical tools it provides for caregivers and addiction ministry committees.” …”.

2. The Welcoming Congregation, edited by the Rev. Scott W. Alexander, 1990, 289.1 ALE
Unitarian Universalist Association. From page 1, on LibraryThing: “This manual, prepared by the UUA’s Office of Lesbian and Gay Concerns, is designed to help interested congregations become more welcoming places for the gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in their midst and in the wider community”.

3. Churchworks: A Well-Body Book for Congregations by Anne Odin Heller, 1999, 254.09 HEL
From LibraryThing: “…uses the human body as a metaphor for the congregation and provides essential advice for growing and sustaining a healthy church.”.

4. Salted with Fire: Unitarian Universalist Strategies for Sharing Faith and Growing Congregations by Scott W. Alexander, 1994, 289.13 ALE
Published by Skinner House Books.

5. Guarding Sacred Embers by Linda Weaver Horton, 2011, 288 WEA
Gift of Rev. Steven Epperson. Has a sub-title of “Reflections on Canadian Unitarian and Universalist History”. From Google search AI Overview: “… It provides a collection of essays and historical accounts detailing the development of these religious traditions in Canada. …” and “… It covers topics such as the history of Unitarian and Universalist churches and themes of Canadian Unitarian history. …”.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the upcoming service on “Flower Communion”, featuring Rev. Shawn Gauthier and Laureen Stokes on Sunday, May 3, 2026 at 11 a.m. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia by Douglas Todd, 2008, 204 TOD
From LibraryThing: “… explores the unique spirituality and culture of Cascadia, which includes British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. … Cascadia is home to the least institutionally religious people on the continent. Despite this, Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia argues that most of the region’s 14 million residents feel deeply “spiritual.” Many gain their sense of the sacred from the spectacular and imposing land.”.

2. Perfection of the Morning: An Apprenticeship in Nature by Sharon Butala, 1995, 921 BUT
From LibraryThing: “At once a meditation on the world of nature and a personal and spiritual exploration of the roots of creativity, The Perfection of the Morning is Sharon Butala’s search for a connection with the prairie that encompassed and often overwhelmed her. …”.

3. Norbert Fabian Capek: A Spiritual Journey by Richard Henry, 1999, 921 CAP
Gift of Harold Brown; published by Skinner House Books. Note that Norbert Čapek initiated the flower communion in Prague on June 4, 1923. From LibraryThing: “… during one of the most turbulent periods in modern history, built a religious movement in his native Czechoslovakia that numbered close to 10,000 people. … Richard Henry draws on Čapek’s diaries, unfinished autobiography and personal items such as sheet music, scrapbooks and photographs. …”.

4. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2024, 581 KIM
From LibraryThing: “Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth, its abundance of sweet, juicy berries, to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution insures its own survival.”.

5. The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature by David Suzuki, 2007, 304.2 SUZ
From LibraryThing: “… The world is changing at a relentless pace. How can we slow down and act from a place of respect for all living things? … David Suzuki reflects on the increasingly radical changes in science and nature-from the climate crisis to peak oil and the rise in clean energy – and examines what they mean for humankind. He also reflects on what we have learned by listening to Indigenous leaders, whose knowledge of the natural world is profound, and whose peoples are on the frontlines of protecting land and water around the world. … combines science, philosophy, spirituality, and Indigenous knowledge to offer concrete suggestions for creating an ecologically sustainable future by rediscovering and addressing humanity’s basic needs.”.

6. Emerson’s Angle of Vision; Man and Nature in American Experience by Sherman Paul, 1952, 921 EM
Gift of Christine Peirce Douglas in memory of her son Lionel Peirce Douglas.

7. Walden by Henry David Thoreau, 1997, 818.3 THO
From LibraryThing: “In 1845 Henry David Thoreau, one of the principal New England Transcendentalists, left the town for the country. Beside the lake of Walden, he built himself a log cabin and returned to nature, to observe and reflect while surviving on eight dollars a year. From this experience emerged …, a deeply personal reaction against the commercialism and materialism that he saw as the main impulses of mid-19th century America.”.

8. From Beginning to End: The Rituals of Our Lives, by Robert Fulghum, 1995, 128 FUL
From the author in the paperback edition, as stated on LibraryThing: “… Rituals do not always involve words, occasions, officials, or an audience. Rituals are often silent, solitary, and self-contained. The most powerful rites of passage are reflective – when you look back on your life again and again, paying attention to the rivers you have crossed and the gates you have opened and walked on through, the thresholds you have passed over. I see ritual when people sit together silently by an open fire. Remembering. As human beings have remembered for thousands and thousands of years.”.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the upcoming service on “The Spiritual Practice of Sleep”, featuring Rev. Shawn Gauthier on Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 11 a.m. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. Daily Meditations for Calming Your Anxious Mind by Jefferey Brantley, 2008, 242.6 BRA
From LibraryThing: “Trying to control your anxious thoughts can backfire, making them more prevalent, not less. The best way to calm these common feelings is by attuning yourself to your thoughts in a nonjudgmental, attentive manner, acknowledging your anxieties but choosing to act rather than react. … a collection of more than sixty-four daily mindfulness-based meditations to help you engage with the present moment, manage stress and anxiety, and rediscover the joy in living. Each meditation contains an easy-to-learn visualization exercise, affirmation, or activity, with meditations grouped into four sections: relaxing and feeling safe, embracing joys and fears, befriending your anxious mind and body, and connecting to the web of life.”].

2. Healing and the Mind by Bill D. Moyers, 1993, 616 MOY
The Julian Fears Library. From LibraryThing, the book jacket: “Ancient medical science told us our minds and bodies are one. So did philosophers of old. Now, modern science and new research are helping us to understand these connections. … he discusses …: How do emotions translate into chemicals in our bodies? How do thoughts and feelings influence health? How can we collaborate with our bodies to encourage healing? …”.

3. Falling into the Sky: A Meditation Anthology, edited by Abhi Janamanchi and Abhimanyu Janamanchi, 2013, 242 JAN
Published by Skinner House Books. From LibraryThing, a review by uufnn: “Each meditation provides a personal insight into the workings of the inner self and how we might be able to accede to a realm where calm has replaced busy-ness, peace has overcome anxiety, and compassion has delivered the soul from selfishness.”.

4. How Sleep Found Tabitha by Maggie de Vries and Sheena Lott, 2002, JFIC DEV
Co-written by VanU member Maggie de Vries. From LibraryThing: “Tabitha can’t sleep! One by one, the things she cherishes offer to help her. Lott’s watercolours and de Vries’s poetic text make this the perfect bedtime story”.

5. The Time Before Dreams by Stefan Czernecki and Timothy Rhodes, 1990, J+ CZE
Gift of Lucy Stewart. From LibraryThing: “How did humans begin to dream? This children’s book from Mexico offers an interesting explanation involving a monstrous black butterfly, jungle animals and a quick-witted shaman who knows all the best spells.”.

Our library in Hewett Centre is open every Sunday after service during Coffee Hour in Hewett Centre, and our Library Team offers related reading lists based on the topic of the Sunday service. Here is their list for the upcoming service on “Inspiring Climate Action”, featuring the VanU Environment Team and Karen Crosby on Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 11 a.m. All are welcome in Hewett Centre after the Sunday service to check out some books, and to have coffee and conversation.

VanU library books related to this Sunday’s sermon:

1. The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres, 2021, 363 FIG
Gift of John Boyle. From LibraryThing: “… Figueres and Rivett-Carnac–the architects of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement–tackle arguably the most urgent and consequential challenge humankind has ever faced: the world’s changing climate and the fate of humanity. … the authors outline two possible scenarios for the planet. In one, they describe what life on Earth will be like by 2050 if we fail to meet the Paris targets for carbon dioxide emission reduction. In the other, they describe what it will take to create and live in a carbon neutral, regenerative world. They argue for confronting the climate crisis head on, with determination and optimism. How we all of us address the climate crisis in the next thirty years will determine not only the world we will live in but also the world we will bequeath to our children and theirs. The Future We Choose presents our options and tells us, in no uncertain terms, what governments, corporations, and each of us can and must do to fend off disaster”

2. The Sea Is Rising and So Are We: A Climate Justice Handbook by Cynthia Kaufman, 2021, 363.73874
From LibraryThing, provided by the publisher: “… By explaining the entrenched forces that are preventing rapid action, it helps you understand the nature of the political reality we are facing and arms you with the tools you need to overcome them. The book offers background information on the roots of the crisis and the many rapidly expanding solutions that are being implemented all around the world. It explains how to engage in productive messaging that will pull others into the climate justice movement, what you need to know to help build a successful movement, and the policy changes needed to build a world with climate justice. It also explores the personal side, how engaging in the movement can be good for your mental health. It ends with advice on how you can find the place where you can be the most effective and where you can build climate action into your life in ways that are deeply rewarding”.

3. The Archipelago of Hope: Wisdom and Resilience from the Edge of Climate Change by Gleb Raygorodetsky, 2018, 304 RAY
From LibraryThing, on the book jacket: “… while our politicians argue, the truth is that climate change is already here. Nobody knows this better than Indigenous peoples who, having developed an intimate relationship with ecosystems over generations, have observed these changes for decades. For them, climate change is not an abstract concept or policy issue, but the reality of daily life. … shows how these communities are actually islands of biological and cultural diversity in the ever-rising sea of development and urbanization. They are an “archipelago of hope” as we enter the Anthropocene, for here lies humankind’s best chance to understand how to take care of the Earth. These communities are implementing creative solutions to meet these modern challenges. Solutions that are relevant to the rest of us. …”.

4. All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson, 2021, 363.7
From LibraryThing: “… There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. While it’s clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, they are too often missing from the proverbial table. More than a problem of bias, it’s a dynamic that sets us up for failure. To change everything, we need everyone. All We Can Save illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the United States – scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers, across generations, geographies, and race – and aims to advance a more representative, nuanced, and solution-oriented public conversation on the climate crisis. These women offer a spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can rapidly, radically reshape society. …”.

5. American Exodus: Climate Change and the Coming Flight for Survival by Giles Slade, 2013, 304.8 SLA
Written by a UCV member. From Amazon: “… Giles Slade argues that we are entering a long period of global desperation which will be characterized by human migration on an unprecedented scale. American Exodus is a frighteningly believable survey of our immediate future, but it ends on a note of hope: we may yet survive the coming century of climatic change if we act now to safeguard our shelter of last resort. …”.

6. Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Anxiety by Britt Wray, 2023, 155 WRA
Donated by John Boyle. From LibraryThing: “An impassioned generational perspective on why climate anxiety is completely natural and necessary, and how we can be stronger for it. Climate and environment-related fears and anxieties are on the rise everywhere, with few resources to address them. As with any type of stress, eco-anxiety can lead to paralysis, burnout and avoidance. … seamlessly merges scientific knowledge with emotional insight to show how these complicated feelings are a sign of our humanity, and acknowledging and valuing them is key to making it through present and future crises. This isn’t a simple process, and it’s not a level playing field when it comes to our vulnerability, she notes. However, with the worsening situation, we are all on the field–and unlocking deep stores of compassion and care is a crucial step in healing our relationship to the planet and each other. With openness and curiosity, Britt explores her own fears about starting a family when evidence of dangerous environmental shifts creates an especially bleak picture of what lies ahead. …”.

7. Just Cool It!: The Climate Crisis and What We Can Do – A Post-Paris Agreement Game Plan by David Suzuki and Ian Hanington, 2017, 363.738
Gift of Mei Jia Lam. From LibraryThing: “A resounding post-Paris Agreement wake-up call about the urgency of the climate crisis that offers a range of practical solutions-and above all, hope. Climate change is the most important crisis humanity has faced, but we still confront huge barriers to resolving it. So, what do we do, and is there hope for humanity? The problem itself is complex, and there’s no single solution. But by understanding the barriers to resolving global warming and by employing a wide range of solutions-from shifting to clean energy to planting trees to reforming agricultural practices-we can get the world back on track. … offers a comprehensive look at the current state of climate science and knowledge and the many ways to resolve the climate crisis, imploring us to do what’s necessary to live in a better, cleaner future. When enough people demand action, change starts happening-and this time, it could be monumental.”.

8. Winds of Change: Short Stories About Our Climate by Keith Wilkinson, 2015, FIC WIL
Written by a VanU member. From DragonFly: “… is a diverse collection of eighteen insightful, witty, and emotional short stories about climate change. The selected stories are the result of a short story contest run by Dragonfly.eco (then eco-fiction.com) in the summer of 2014. In collaboration with 100,000 Poets (Artists/Authors) for Change, Dragonfly engaged authors from Vancouver, BC, and other places around the world, to create speculative fiction about a harsh reality: our planet-at-risk. With a foreword by Michael Rothenberg, Winds of Change also includes several poems by Stephen Siperstein and Carolyn Welch. …”.

9. The New Northwest Passage: A Voyage to the Front Line of Climate Change by Cameron Dueck, 2012, 910.91 DUE
From LibraryThing: “In the summer of 2009, Cameron Dueck and the rest of the crew of the Silent Sound completed a journey made by fewer people than have climbed Mt. Everest; they sailed through the infamous Northwest Passage. These waters are normally locked in ice, but due to climate change it is now possible to sail here for a few short weeks each summer. Their voyage from Victoria to Halifax carried them through raging storms and mechanical breakdowns and took them into sea ice that threatened to crush their hull. But more importantly it brought them face to face with modern Arctic life in tiny, isolated Inuit communities where the challenge of climate change is added to the already crushing load of social and economic woes. Each person they met along the way added their story to the colourful tale of life in the Arctic; a unique place where the climate change experience is affected by the critical and ongoing debates over sovereignty, resources and cultural assimilation.”.

10. Nuclear is Not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change by M.V. Ramana, 2024, 621 RAM
Gift of Huguette Hayden. From LibraryThing: “Breaks any illusions in the hope of nuclear power to create a green energy future”.

11. Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming, by Bjørn Lomborg, 2007, 363 LOM
From LibraryThing: “Argues that many of the elaborate actions being considered to stop global warming are too costly and will have little impact, and suggests that society’s focus should be on such immediate concerns as fighting HIV/AIDS and maintaining a fresh water supply.”.

12. Lytton: Climate Change, Colonialism and Life Before the Fire by Peter Edwards, 2024, 971 EDW
From LibraryThing: “… This book is the story of Lytton, told from a shared perspective, of an Indigenous playwright and the journalist son of a settler doctor who quietly but sternly pushed back against the divisions that existed between populations (Dr. Edwards gladly took a lot of salmon as payment for his services back in the 1960s). Portrayed with all the warmth, humour and sincerity of small-town life, the colourful little town that burned to the ground could be every town’s warning if we don’t take seriously what this unique place has to teach us.”.

13. For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future by Herman E. Daly, 1989, 330.1 DA
From LibraryThing: “… demonstrate how conventional economics and a growth-oriented industrial economy have led us to the brink of environmental disaster, and show the possibility of a different future.”.