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.”.