"When we lose someone we love, when we suffer loss or defeat, when catastrophe strikes-war, famine, pandemic-we go in search of consolation. Once the province of priests and philosophers, the language of consolation has largely vanished from our modern vocabulary, and the places where it was offered, houses of religion, are often empty. Rejecting the solace of ancient religious texts, humanity since the sixteenth century has increasingly placed its...

With the imagery of a poet and the reflection of a philosopher, David Whyte turns his attention to 52 ordinary words, each its own particular doorway into the underlying currents of human life. Beginning with Alone and closing with Work, each chapter is a meditation on meaning and context, an invitation to shift and broaden our perspectives on the inevitable vicissitudes of life: pain and joy, honesty and anger, confession and vulnerability, the experience...

All of us will go through dark times that we don't understand: a difficulty with a friend, an unfair situation at work, a financial setback, an unexpected illness, a divorce, or the loss of a loved one. Those types of experiences are part of the human journey. But when we find ourselves in such a place, it's important that we keep a positive perspective. Joel Osteen writes that if we stay in faith and keep a good attitude when we go through challenges,...

"A lively kitten is full of joy until she takes a tumble. Can a little comfort from someone special help her feel happy again?"--