Bromleigh McCleneghan and Lee Hull Moses have written a book about being not-perfect parents in a not-perfect world. The result, Hopes and Fears: Everyday Theology for New Parents and Other Tired, Anxious People, is a joyous celebration of child-rearing in which any parent no matter how perfect can share. 'I want to have a happy and healthy marriage, and I want to have happy, faithful kids,' proclaims co-author McCleneghan in the introduction to the book. 'But I reject the pervasive cultural lie that a happy marriage and the faithful kids are somehow the byproducts of some rigorous and largely unattainable personal or moral perfection.' Thus, Hopes and Fears is neither a 'how-to' book nor a mere meditation. Rather, the authors seek to find the beautiful and the spiritual in the sometimes mundane activities that parents have performed since the beginning of history, while at the same time allowing beautiful and spiritual insights of the past to inform and shape the activities of modern parenting. Thus, the words of a hymn can trigger an idea about how to deal with bedtime, and an exercise in baby-naming can lead to a better understanding of a passage in Isaiah. The intertwining of the spiritual and familial in this book constantly surprises and delights: a quote from Paul Tillich can stand next to one from Tina Fey or What to Expect When You're Expecting. We are often reminded that the authors, two longtime friends, are ordinary working mothers. Fortunately, they are also experienced and well-read congregational leaders, and they bring that perspective to their reflections. Hopes and Fears is also about sharing, in the widest and deepest sense of that word. As many parents know, learning to share is one of the most difficult things for many children to acquire. McCleneghan and Moses have decided to teach by example with this book, noting: 'we're hopeful that as we share our lives—the trials and tribulations and incredible joys—other parents will feel inspired to reflect on their own experiences, and perhaps even to consider new ways in which their own faith is relevant to their identities as parents.' Hopes and Fears: Everyday Theology for New Parents and Other Tired, Anxious People is highly suitable for group study as well as individual reflection.

This early work by William Morris was originally published in 1899 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. William Morris (1834 - 1896) was born in London, England. Arguably best known as a textile designer, he founded a design partnership which deeply influenced the decoration of churches and homes during the early 20th century. However, he is also considered an important Romantic writer and pioneer of the modern fantasy genre, being a direct influence on authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien. As well as fiction, Morris penned poetry and essays.

Reproduction of the original.

Reproduction of the original.

The First World War has survived as part of our national memory in a way no previous war has ever done. This collection of letters - which lay untouched for almost ninety years - allows a unique glimpse into the war as experienced by one family at the time, transporting us back to an era which is now slipping tantalizingly out of living memory. The Slaters - the family at the heart of these letters - lived in Oxford. Like most families, they were both typical and unique. Gilbert, the father of the family, had been head of Ruskin College in Oxford, and during the war found work as the first Professor of Indian Economics in Madras. His wife, Violet, grew to detest the war and became an increasingly vocal pacifist as the slaughter continued. Owen, their eldest son, a schoolboy in 1914, was fighting in France by war's end. In the letters they wrote to each other and their friends at this time we see how the war increasingly impacted upon each of their lives and the life of the world around them - rationing, Violet's increasing involvement in radical politics, the deaths of friends, the fear of Zeppelin raids when in London, the endless discussions between Violet and Gilbert about how to keep their son out of the trenches - and the growth of Owen from schoolboy to soldier, serving as a junior officer on the Western Front. Above all, in their privacy and immediacy, their inconsistencies and false hopes, these letters bring us as near as we can ever be to understanding what people thought, feared, and hoped for during these momentous years.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1843.

Politics of Fear, Practices of Hope is about the relationship between two hugely influential ideas in political life: fear and hope. How are cultures of resistance nurtured within an environment of paranoia and social paralysis? Stefan Skrimshire argues that grass-roots responses to a politics of fear coincide with an explosion of interest in the quasi-religious themes of apocalypse, eschatology and utopia in cultural life. Where visions of a better future are replaced by the acceptance of a fearful present - a state of 'war with no end' - this is an important examination of the beliefs that underpin our capacity to hope.

Nilla, a sixteen-year-old German girl, finds refuge from the tumult and influence of the rising Nazi regime by entering the Dominican Order of the Poor School Sisters. But her life quickly turns her away from solitude and solace toward a remarkable journey that changes her forever. Nilla's story is a coming of age tale in a foreign land where nature and humanity show their most bitter faces. She encounters hardship, prejudice, and injustice, but also forges an enduring friendship with Tanik, a young Indian woman. The ensuing cultural frictions force Nilla to confront relentless questions as the lines between right and wrong are persistently blurred. Nowhere can she find answers; not even God seems to offer a clear path. But as Nilla faces her world, she discovers strength and value within herself and her religion. She learns to separate the light and darkness in the souls around her.

This book scrutinises ‘peace’ and ‘war' through Australian lenses. It uncovers a deeper understanding of these terms and reflects a desire to bring to light alternative Australian ideas of war and peacemaking. Certain stories have eclipsed others that add importantly to Australia’s history. This Quaker initiative considers a plurality of voices and the ‘truths’ they purport. It unpacks the act of ‘memorialising' to discover the marked impact we make in our efforts to hold on to meaning and to our past. What have been the effects of our responses to the maxim ’Lest we forget’?