Organizations and Institutions Books

fr. mathew kelty entered the gethsemani monestary after his 40th birthday and learned the ways of Trappist life while Thomas Merton was in charge of the education of novices. the underlying theme of all of fr. mathew's writing seems to be the resounding beauty of life that is waiting just beneath the surface for all of us to discover. this excellent collection of journal entries and homilies give the reader a wonderful idea of how the world appears to a trappist monk.

Music has been a part of religion for as long as both existed. "The Mystery We Celebrate, The Song We Sing: A Theology of Liturgical Music" is a study of liturgical music and the relationship of the two through the ages. It also touches upon liturgical music's spiritual relevance and its contributions to religion as a whole. A scholarly examination from first page to last, enhanced with an index, "The Mystery We Celebrate, The Song We Sing: A Theology of Liturgical Music" is highly recommended for community library Christian collections.

In her introduction, and throughout her work, Lyddon acknowledges that for many, the message of John of the Cross is over-severe and anti-life. At the same time, she takes care to explain why these perceptions are incorrect and that John's message of pure love is our highest calling and can lead to our greatest joy.

Yet Lyddon's work is far more than an apology. In presenting John's own words with examples of their meaning in today's world, she focuses our attention on the gentleness and compassion he showed in guiding others to a fulfilling life in Christ. She offers a wonderful personal example to illustrate John's belief about self-denial as a path toward closer union with God. In preparation for a half hour of prayer, Lyddon turned off her answering machine, then pulled a curtain to avoid the distraction of her beloved cat's mewing outside the window. Next she was accosted by "violent tempests of anger, depression, or lust," but avoided self-reproach or analysis. When the storm calmed, she felt the need for refreshment, but postponed her response until the end of prayer time. "You may wonder where prayer comes into all this," she writes. "Yet I have made four separate decisions for God," thus building up habits of putting God first.

Such reflections encourage readers to put aside any preconceived ideas about the severity of this great saint's writings and embrace whatever message the Spirit provides through John's words.

Congressman Gerald Solomon, then Chairman of the Rules Committee of the US House and a longstanding member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, provides an authoritative account of how the sixteen NATO nations sought to accommodate the striving of Central European nations to rejoin the West while forging a strategic partnership with Russia. Drawing on previously publicly undisclosed documents and his privileged conversations with leaders throughout Europe and within the Congress, Congressman Solomon's impressive work, together with James Goldgeier's history of the US dimension of the deicision, Not Whether But When (Brookings 1999), serves as the point of departure for those interested in this key dimension of managing continental drift in the new Europe. John Borawski Director of the Political Committee NATO Parliamentary Assembly 1987-1999

NATO Enters the 21st Century, a compilation of eight essays, differs from many other edited volumes on NATO expansion published since 1998, in that all authors are American and critical of the organization's move eastward. Other books, like those edited by Rauchhaus (2001) and Sperling (2000), examine the perspectives of other countries and either approve the "enlargement" of the alliance or evenly debate its pros and cons. Edited by Ted Galen Carpenter (Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute), this book examines the internal discord in NATO since its expansion and conveys a sense of urgency: disagreements among NATO members are increasing in intensity, now that there is no Soviet threat imposing unity on defiant members of the alliance. Dr. Carpenter intended for the book to become the "basis of a searching debate about the future of European security."
Besides Carpenter, other contributors to NATO Enters the 21st Century include Alton Frye (senior fellow, Council on Foreign Relations); Alan Tonelson (research fellow, US Business and Industry Council Educational Foundation, Washington DC); Amos Perlmutter (political science professor, American University); Christopher Layne (visiting professor, University of Southern California); Richard Rupp (visiting assistant professor, Purdue University); and Kori Schake (research professor, National Defense University).
Two of the most interesting essays are those written by Carpenter and Tonelson. Carpenter argues that NATO's new Strategic Concept, which was presented at the 50th anniversary summit in April 1999, is more of a "conceptual muddle" rather than a "coherent blueprint" (p. 7). This plan for the future, he claims, was designed to "appease certain self-seeking parties" within the alliance, but it turned out to be nearly irrelevant (p. 177). Dr. Tonelson's essay deals with the contentious issue of burden-sharing. He posits that the European allies have not helped to shoulder the financial burdens because the United States has never given them sufficient incentive. Rather, U.S. leaders send mixed messages; they complain about European "free riding," but simultaneously proclaim that European security is of paramount importance to the United States. Like Smith and Timmins (2000), Tonelson emphasizes the rivalry between NATO and the EU and the latter's determination to remain the predominant player in the European arena. Also like Smith and Timmins, Tonelson is critical of NATO's military achievements, pointing out that the Bosnian and Kosovo crises were clearly not Article 5-type threats and that the United States had no obligation to get involved. The fact that it did, Tonelson argues, signaled to the Europeans that the Americans will always rescue them. Quoting Representative Barney Frank (Democrat-Massachusetts): "America's European allies are threatening to become foreign policy `welfare recipients.' Unless compelled to do so, they will never pay their own way." (pp. 53-54).---Reviewed by Dr. Johanna Granville (Stanford University)

I've started reading NATO Renewed : The Power and Purpose of Transatlantic Cooperation 2 days ago. I found the book excellent and I think it will be useful for my academic study.
Thank you very much...

Conway has patiently compiled a detailed account of Europe's Christian churches under Nazi rule. He shows how Hitler used and abused Christianity for his agenda, and how he grew ever-more openly hostile to the churches. The book unblinkingly examines how and why so many Christians embraced or compromised with the Nazis. And it conveys the fear and humanity of those who risked everything for the sake of compassion -- more often the Catholics than Protestants, and most heroic of all, the Jehovah's Witnesses.

--author of "Different Visions of Love"

Zimmerman unravels this complex situation thoughtfully and thoroughly. She intelligently places Goethals in his acccurate historical context. A great book.

"This book presents a 'hot topic'--critical literacy--in a unique setting: a junior kindergarten....Most people, teachers in particular, think primary age kids, let alone preschoolers, are too young for this. Vivian shows not only that it can be done, but that done well (and her practice was certainly gorgeous), it promotes a depth of learning that teachers, parents, and even the kids themselves recognize....The case she makes for critical literacy being not only powerful but pleasurable and hopeful is important and often missing from other books on the subject....What an extraordinary achievement and what an extraordinary contribution to the fields of early childhood education, early literacy, and language education!"
-- Carole Edelsky
Arizona State University

Good book! I checked this out cause i thought it was harry potter, but It was good anyway!