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 featuring Rev. Shawn Gauthier on Sunday, August 17, 2025 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. Me to We: Turning Self-Help on Its Head, by Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger, 2004, 177.7 KIE [Gift of Jessica Campbell. From LibraryThing, the publisher description: “Imagine waking up every morning believing that your actions can make a significant change in the world. For everyone who has ever yearned for a better life and a better world, the authors share a blueprint for personal and social change that has the power to transform lives, one act at a time. Through inspirational stories from all walks of life, the Kielburgers reveal that a more fulfilling path is ours for the taking when we find the courage to reach out. This book describes an approach to life that leads us to recognize what is truly valuable, make new decisions about the way we want to live, and redefine the goals we set for ourselves and the legacy we want to leave. Above all, it creates new ways of measuring meaning, happiness, and success in our lives, and makes these elusive goals attainable.”].
2. A New Earth Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, by Tolle Eckhart, 2008, 204.4 TOL [From LibraryThing, the publisher description: “Tolle presents readers with an honest look at the current state of humanity: he implores us to see and accept that this state, which is based on an erroneous identification with the egoic mind, is one of dangerous insanity. However, there is an alternative to this potentially dire situation. Humanity now, perhaps more than in any previous time, has an opportunity to create a new, saner, more loving world. This will involve a radical inner leap from the current egoic consciousness to an entirely new one. In illuminating the nature of this shift, Tolle describes in detail how our current ego-based state of consciousness operates. Then gently, and in very practical terms, he leads us into this new consciousness. We will come to experience who we truly are–which is something infinitely greater than anything we currently think we are.”].
3. Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up, by James Hollis, 2005, 155.6 HOL [From LibraryThing: “… We assume that once we “get it together” with the right job, marry the right person, have children, and buy a home, all is settled and well. But adulthood presents varying levels of growth and is rarely the respite of stability we expected. Turbulent emotional shifts can take place anywhere between the age of thirty-five and seventy when we question the choices we’ve made, realize our limitations, and feel stuck – commonly known as the “midlife crisis”. Jungian psychoanalyst James Hollis believes that it is only in the second half of life that we can truly come to know who we are and thus create a life that has meaning. … explores the ways we can grow and evolve to fully become ourselves when the traditional roles of adulthood aren’t quite working for us. Offering wisdom to anyone facing a career that no longer seems fulfilling, a long-term relationship that has shifted, or family transitions that raise issues of aging and mortality, …”].
4. 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. …”].
5. Life Work, by Donald Hall, 1993, 921 HALL [Published by Beacon Press. From LibraryThing, various reviews: “… “A sustained meditation on work as the key to personal happiness …” – Dana Gioia, Los Angeles Times, … “I am delighted and moved by Donald Hall’s Life Work, his autobiographical tribute to sheer work–as distinguished from labor–as the most satisfying and ennobling of activities, whether one is writing, canning vegetables or playing a dung fork on a New Hampshire farm.” – Paul Fussell, The Boston Globe, … ”].
6. What Really Matters, by Tony Schwartz, 1995, 128 SCH [From LibraryThing, in the book jacket: “”In 1988, at the height of his career as a journalist, happily married and co-author of a smash number one bestseller, Tony Schwartz hit an unexpected wall. Why did the success he’d sought for so long suddenly feel empty? What was a truly meaningful and complete life, and who could show him how to live it? And how could he explore this wider vision without giving up his life in the “real world”?” “During the next five years he crisscrossed the country, meeting with mystics, psychologists, philosophers, physicians, and scientists. Blending the hunger of a seeker with a journalist’s commitment to hardheaded inquiry, Schwartz interviewed, challenged, worked with, and sometimes befriended the key figures of a new, distinctively American wisdom tradition.””].
7. Compassion In Action: Setting Out on the Path of Service, by Ram Dass and Mirabai Blish, 1992, 158.3 RAM [From LibraryThing: “… Here is a guide for those who are just beginning to realize that self-fulfillment is possible through service to others. … Ram Dass’s spiritual autobiography, in which he reflects on the lessons of his own life and addresses two vital questions: “What in us responds to the needs of others?” and “What can we actually do to alleviate suffering?” Mirabai Bush then counsels readers on how to identify their most useful talents, gives direction for finding opportunities. to serve in the community, and offers very practical suggestions on how to get started. What we have to give is who we are. We need to grow in awareness and insight if we wish to become more effective instruments for change. …”].
8. Lifecraft: The Art of Meaning in the Everyday, by Forrest Church, 2001, 248.4 CHU [Published by Beacon Press. From LibraryThing: “… A joyous book on the art of finding meaning in daily life. Forrest Church challenges much of the modern search for meaning-indeed, the entire thrust of modern theology.”].
9. Thoreau as Spiritual Guide: A Companion to Walden for Personal Reflection and Discussion, by Barry M. Andrews, 2000, 200 AND [From LibraryThing: “… Thoreau and the Trancendentalists tried to achieve a balance in their lives between work and leisure, nature and civilization, society and solitude, spiritual aspirations and moral behavior. This guide helps one “walk” through Walden again and find its soul while expanding your own.”].