Companies Books

Its a great book to read. Easy to digest and helps me to think deeper in starting my own restaurant.The Restaurant Dream?

This book gives you a foundation if you are truly interested in the restaurant business. A good book to keep as a reference.

This book provides a good overview of the challenges the author faced in opening the restaurant. However, I was looking for something that was more instructional and specific...

I bought this book for a firend who is planning on opening his own restaurant. He told me he loved the book because it had more helpful suggestions and plans then other books he read.

This book does a great job of blending an easy to read writing style with providing essential advice for anyone thinking about or already involved in a restaurant endeavor. From picking the right location and negotiating terms in a lease to branding the restaurant, menu creation and much more - this author clearly has experienced the ups and downs of getting off the ground...the experiences shared in this book will definitely help you think through start-up requirements, avoid common pitfalls and point you in the right direction for your own venture.

This book will really help you know and understand the different types of worship that people experience. Like the "love languages" many have learned about, I would say this explains the various "worship languages".

This book is valuable in both self discovery and in communicating with other Christians. When speaking with others they give clues to their dominate pathways thus, an insight of where they are 'coming from'.

If you are trying to find a way to connect better with God, then this little guide may point you in the right direction.

Thomas provides a keen analysis of the various pathways we use to relate to God. He also provides insights that all believers need if they are to be tolerant of other peoples pathways. This is a much needed resource for those experiencing a disconnect due to changing worship styles. Traditionalists can better understand those desiring a contemporary experience and "Contemporaries" would be well-served to seek understanding of the validity of the traditionalist's preferences.

Having already read Thomas' "Sacred Marriage," I had extremely high expectations for this book, and I would say that they were largely met. Gary Thomas manages to write in a style that is both intellectual and personal, challenging the reader to ponder at a deeper level than many Christian books while never allowing his style to seem distant or arrogant. It's a tricky balance, but Thomas manages to strike that balance.

"Sacred Pathways" sets out to establish the reality that Christians do not naturally connect to God in identical ways and that this is not only acceptable but part of God's plan. It's the type of message that many of us need to hear, as we play the dangerous game of comparing our spirituality to other esteemed believers and realizing that we don't measure up to them. Thomas instructs us to consider that we are not meant to try to mirror anyone else's walk with God. Rather, we need to identify how we have been created and head down that "sacred pathway" with all diligence to "cultivate and grow" our relationship with God.

Thomas managed to tell very personal stories from his own life about every one of the nine sacred pathways, while managing to explain which ones came more or less naturally for him. This articulates the crucial point that though we may be bent toward one pathway more so than another, none of us have the right to ignore any of these sacred pathways as somehow irrelevant in our lives.

One particularly commendable component of Thomas' writing is his respect for the history of the church, and he constantly refers to our spiritual predecessors to gather their thoughts from the past centuries on so many different topics. What a refreshing approach to contemporary Christian writing! How much richer would the spiritual vitality of the church be if we were able to better learn from the past two thousand years of collective wisdom and experience?

I look forward to reading more of Gary Thomas' books. I would recommend "Sacred Pathways" to any Christian interested in learning more about the diverse ways that God has created us to seek after Him.

My husband met the author on one of his desert motorcycle rides while resting at Cadiz Summit. Joe was there to interview relatives of the original merchants at Cadiz Summit. They struck up a conversation and e-mail addresses were exchanged when it was learned that Joe had written a book about the tough people that once lived in this part of the Mojave.

Upon receiving our copy, my husband raced through the book and promptly ordered one for our son. Our son is a BNSF conductor and runs through the desert. Many of the old railroaders that our son talked to and shared the book with knew some of these old residents of Amboy and Chubbuck and the like.

Now I find myself at the old Catholic church in Amboy, studying the gas station mural at Danby, bouncing along the sand roads from deserted town to deserted town, and trying to picture the people and their lives in this scenic but harsh territory.

We have and will continue to use this text as our guide as we explore the Mojave. It is well researched, visually effective, and a must take along if you have time to ride Old 66 and imagine how it used to be.

This book is PURE GOLD for desert lovers curious about California's Route 66 history and lore.

The unique book, "The Silence and The Sun," gives a wonderful historical account of personalities and places from a past era. Also included, is useful information for the desert explorer. I highly recommend the book to anyone, but particularly those interested in Route 66 and the Mojave Desert.

Great book and very informative. I lived in Amboy and other places in the area in the 1960s as a small child and have often wondered about the history and the stories of the characters of those places. I'm in Seattle now but have ventured back a couple of times to see how it has all changed. Then along comes Joe with this book and it's amazing what he was able to dig up. I can't even imagine how many hours he invested in gathering it all. I very much enjoyed reading The Silence and the Sun and I hope Joe continues his research as I would love to read about other places like Ludlow and Newberry and Baker.

There is something about California's vast desert lands that has a way of capturing the hearts and imagination of some people. For many the desert is nothing more than forsaken land seen going from point A to point B across freeways . Yet beneath the hot desert sand contains deep and rich history that has shaped and impacted California history.

Joe de Kehoe's "The Silence and the Sun" captures that forgotten history, detailing the life and times of the many small desert communities that once dotted the Easter Mojave Desert. The book gives an in depth inside look at how rural desert life was throughout the 20th century. These stories come to life as you begin to read the descriptive first-hand accounts from former desert residents and gaze at compelling photographs of the region. The countless number of first-hand interviews with local desert dwellers as well as many referenced primary sources provides clarity and great historical accuracy.

Before reading "The Silence and the Sun" I had little knowledge of these Eastern Mojave Desert communities. This was largely due to the fact that historical information on this region remains mostly inaccessible to the average person. However, all the thorough information that the author gathered into this book (much of which is rare) has made this once unknown region much more familiar to me -- in fact, I now feel a new found connection to the land. If you are interested in such desert railroad and mining towns as Chubbuck, Cadiz, Milligan, and some of the old Route 66 places such as Amboy, Bagdad, Danby, and Chambless, then you will find this book a beacon of light for a region that has largely remained in the dark.

"Silver Pennies" was my elementary school poetry book filled with whimsical and delightful imagery of fairies and natural surroundngs. Compiled in two sections, Part I for first through fourth graders and Part II for fifth and sixth graders, many of the poems can be memorized. Others are wonderful for bedtime reading by a grown-up. The poems have charm and sensitivity to the world of children's imagination and speaks of a simpler time when we stopped to hear the fairies.

When Silver Pennies by Blanche Jennings Thompson was first published by The MacMillan Company in 1926, this beautiful collection of poetry for children was bound in cloth imprinted with the silhouette of a small child reaching up to the heavens towards a cascade of silver stars. The current publisher who claims a 1976 copyright is aptly named Buccaneer Books, for they have pillaged much of the charm of this book. The library cover is the dullest imaginable! For the price of this reprint, surely they could have reproduced the cover which so captured my imagination and that of so many other children in years past. I would have given this book all the stars in the world, had they kept those stars on the cover!

Silver Pennies has made terrific bedtime and quiet-time reading for our 3yo. The poems are short enough and entertaining enough to keep a little person's attention, and ours has already found some favorites.

After all the cutesy-wootsy, sanitized, dumbed-down kids' books I've read through, this is a delight.

Although the new cover looks more like a Book Of Shadows than a book of children's poems, the actual writing still has the charm of the original. Beautiful, optimistic, sentimental...a lovely trip back to what was good in my childhood.

A dear old friend gave this book (1952 ed) to me ten years ago. I was only 22 years old then and much to busy for poetry. She died a few years later. For ten years, I didn't pay it much mind. Then I had my first child and began to search among my books for poems that would be good to read at bedtime. To my delight, I rediscovered Silver Pennies. What a find! My husband and I read from it every night and our little 2 year old loves it. It's become almost a ritual at our house. I know my son doesn't understand all words, but the poems have a beauty all their own and he must appreciate it. I've read my favorites such as The Faithless Flowers, Rain in the Night, and Water Noises so many times that they're now committed to memory. I probably know at least a dozen of the poems by heart, which has been a real delight to my son when we are traveling or camping out and don't have books to read or light to read by. I just recite them to him in the dark -- he loves it and drifts off to sleep every time. My husband and I will always treasure this little book.

This book is simply heavenly! lol Seriously! It's absolutely amazing. The book is filled with vegan recipes, has faux meat recipes, "nice cream" recipes, even has a dog/cat food recipe that's vegan! Some of the recipes aren't very specific.. Like there was one for a Thai dish that didn't specify which vegetables to use, but I guess the author wanted to allow some flexibility & imagination. Overall, I love this book. I've purchased 2 of them from amazon. I gave one of them to my rabbi & he & his wife use it all the time. The recipes have helped with their blood pressure & diabetes & stuff. It's got a wonderful variety of recipes, with 1400+ to choose from. You've got Cajun foods, Asian foods, Southern style foods, desserts, faux meats, soups, salads, breads, various recipes for vegan 'eggs', and like I mentioned before, even a recipe for pet food! Even if you had to pay 70+ dollars for the book, I'd recommend buying it.

Just keep an eye out for it on Amazon. I bought my second copy from here for like 25.00. :)

I cannot say enough good things about this cookbook. I bought it ten years ago after deciding to prepare more vegetarian meals for my family. We loved almost every recipe I tried, especially Shepherd's Pie, Unbeef Gravy, Unchicken Pot Pie, Swiss Unsteak, Oat Burgers, and Indonesian-Style Tofu. When my grandson was born three years ago with allergies to eggs and dairy products, this cookbook became a life-saver. It is difficult to get enough protein in the diet of a small child without using milk and eggs, but not with this cookbook. With these recipes you can make the dishes all children love, like Cheez Pizza and Macaroni and Yeast Cheez Casserole. I adapted Abbot Burke's recipe for Anadama Bread into a high-protein bread my family loves. You can find the recipe for "Jack's Bread" at [...]. Finally, here is something I have wanted to say for ten years: "Thank you, Abbot Burke and the Holy Protection Orthodox Monastery, for providing us with healthful, tasty, satisfying, and earth-friendly recipes. We love you."

This book is the end all of it all. It has made my life incredibly richer and easier in terms of my vegan diet. The recipes are straightforward and the sections on gluten and dairy substitutes are unparalleled. The recipes themselves are very very good, though they are not as 'exotic' or 'haute-cuisine' as some out there will like. However, this book is THE book for the main stuff you need to do on a day by day basis. Even when using other books that I have in my cuisine library, I ALWAYS use this one.

The point being that this book is the key for preparing the basic stuff that you will use in all recipes (including recipes from other books). This book gives you the building blocks of everything else. Usually books present -say- a specific dressing cause they are recommending it for a salad that they are also giving to you. This book doesn't work like that. It is the pure building blocks. And so even when I am cooking Indian or Thai food, I come back to this book constantly.

...breads...glutens (3 methods of preparation and flavors include ham, sausage, chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, among others)...un-cheese...dressings, unmilk, kreem cheese, yogurt, sauces, etc. it is all here. There is even a very good parmesan chiz recipe. It has A LOT of recipes PLUS potential variations in many of them.

The section on beans and grains is very good as well.

This book is well-researched, the author is extremely knowledgeable AND experienced, and it shows a LOT. He offers alternatives constantly and sometimes even gives you two or three ways of preparing -say- a parmesan cheez.

This is the only book I take when traveling abroad or on vacation trips. I carry it with me on the NYC subway everyday and read from it. I've been doing this for almost a year now. Everything is here, everything is easy to do, and everything is superb.

The main idea is...Given than vegan food is better for you than animal-based food, it should also taste better. Here is how.

This book should be reprinted over and over, my second favorite book...Veganomicon...is on a distant, very distant second place. Sorry Chandra and Terry!!

This is a great book, and if it were on sale for a normal price, I would buy it. It does rely on wheat gluten in a LOT of recipes, and since half of my family cannot eat wheat, that means it won't be tops on my list. However, there are a lot of other great recipes, just not 30.00 or whatever dollars worth. Amazon needs to reprint it.

This is my favorite cookbook and I use it all the time. I've always had a problem with cookbooks because I never have the right ingredients on hand. But, this cookbook has multiple versions of basic recipes so you can always find a version that fits what you have on in your cupboard. The index is also very helpful because you can look up key ingredients and find all the recipes that use it. Plus, this book has a vegan version of just about any recipe you could ever want to make.

There is a rather large section in the book about how to prepare wheat gluten from scratch using serveral methods and with several different flavors. It comes out delicious!

The LRRPS did. Time and time again the long-range-reconnaissance-patrols went out to "see" and not be "seen", and sadly, some individuals wouldn't return home.

This is fantastic series of books covering the history and evolution of the LRRPS/LRPS/RANGERS during the Vietnam War.

Rey Martinez, Kenn Miller, and Gary Linderer interviewed a great number of the surviving members of the LRRPS/Rangers to bring their history alive. While some members were able to tap into their memories, others wouldn't touch the pain from long ago. The authors did a terrific job bringing the histories together for a strong narrative.

If anything, I found myself wanting to know more! What were they thinking? What were you feeling? I'm sure much ended up on the "editing room floor".

The "SIX SILENT MEN" books are a very honest account if the units actions. They're packed with adventure and daring. While reading their books, I was filled with tension and dread, other times I had to laugh aloud, and a few times I became misty-eyed. You feel for the teams as they "will" themselves to become invisible while on patrol.

Don't be mis-lead by a negative review. The reviewer misquoted the book. This I know since I pulled my copy off the shelf and checked the text. The reviewer claims the authors are liars --- NOT SO. A great number of books on the Vietnam War are written very honestly, and the publishers do "Fact Checking" before publishing these books. Read the review by Harold Nealy, who was a LRRP! His testimonial supports this fine series. If these books were embellished tales, then Vietnam Vets who served in the LRRPS/Rangers wouldn't hesitate to post a review here and let the truths be known. As you see this isn't the case.

I have never met a veteran who has panned these books. Never.

If you enjoyed this series, I would also recommend Jim Morris' WAR STORY, John Plasters' SOG, James Rowe's FIVE YEARS TO FREEDOM, Larry Chambers RECONDO, and Leigh Wade's TAN PHU.

I had the honor of meeting Kenn Miller, Jim Morris, and John Plaster (and other Vietnam Vets) two years ago. They freely answered my questions. I was going to `buy a round' when one of them said, "Put your money away kid." I was 33, and that gathering was enjoyed by all.

Read the books. You won't be disappointed! God Bless and Attack life!

This work is all that is to be expected from a sequel to the first "Six Silent Men". I was not let down, as I so often am, with some of the small unit contact books. This work was all that I expected. The action was close to non stop. The depictions of contact were thrilling and heart stopping. I was with and rooting for the teams all the way. This book, as was its precursor,is top notch. After having read circa 110 books about this subject, you may take my word for this book's being an interesting read.

I highly recommend any & all of Gary Linderer's books; all are packed with great recollections of our brave fighting men in Vietnam, and are fast reads. Once you start this book (Vol 3), you'll find it very hard to put down. Reading Vols 1 & 2 are not necessary, as each is a stand-alone account.

I have enjoyed all of Mr Linderer's publications, and can recommend this one as well without hesitation. You won't be disappointed!

Excellent piece of writing from a guy who served with the team. As a UK reader, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the 101st LRRPs/Rangers in Vietnam.

...This book is, as well as the others by Linderer an interesting recollection of his own experiences as well as experiences of others. Spend the bucks and you won't get disappointed. Try reading his other books to get a good sum of what he and his teammates experienced during Vietnam.
Don't let yourself be blamed by such [bologna]. I mean, the war is long gone, Linderers and Chambers books are a recollection of their feelings, thoughts and experiences. Truly and honestly written. The way I understood it, this book and the other books aren't a recollection of commo details or other things. These are facts of men fighting a war not REMFs ... spitting on a good job and being jealous about what they could do. So buy this book or the others by Linderer and you will understand a lot more.

This book has all the essential stretches for the entire body. Complete head to toe stretches. It also sorts out the stretches accourding to neck, legs, wrists, arms, etc. Not only does it sort those out for you, but it gives a list of stretches for those who sit, stand, and all other sorts of diffent activities. One downfall, believes in evolution. The author did not need to include her opinions that we used to come from apes that swing on trees. This view damages a man's identity. Ok exact quote, "Because human beings no longer hang from trees as we did when we were evolving from primates,...." Get rid of that evolution phylosophy. It has never been proven, and why some man wants to believe we were once some ape is beyond this person, or better yet, that we evolved from a rock that was rained on for billions of years; and somehow this rock came to life. Bunch of garbage if you ask me. Other than that, it is good for what it was designed for.

This is a great book for people who are just starting out with an exercise regimen as well as for people who are already active. I used this book to help me train for the Avon 3-Day Walk (60 miles in 3 days) and am proud to say that after doing the stretches in this book (even at the beginner level), I could walk 15-20 miles in a day and never have even shin splints. This is a great way to make exercise (relatively) painless.

These days physiotherapy is becoming rather specialized, with "sports therapists", "dance medicine", etc. Unfortunately, there's a lot of quackery mixed in with some half-useful advice.

"Stretch and Stengthen" is one of the few books on stretching I can give an unqualified recommendation. It was written before the Pilots/Yogurt craze, and manages to avoid all the goofy (and completely useless) mental imagery and holistic gibberish. The routines are comprehensive, thorough, and if followed regularly really will increase your flexibility without decreasing your brain cells.

She gives suggested routines for specific sports and specific problems. I have immense amounts of flexibility combined with insanely tight hamstrings and gait-related issues, and of course I have lower back problems. A combination of daily stretches from this book plus Thai massage has done wonders--I'm truly ache-free for the first time in over 20 years. (And I will also attest that one hasn't worked without the other.)

My only complaint is the book's organization. The routines are listed at the beginning of the book, but the actual stretches are scattered in an rather unorganized fashion throughout. I had to make copies of the individual routines so I didn't have to keep flipping through the book. Not a big deal, but a little annoying.

An easier way to deal with this is to list pointers from each routine to the next one. For example, if you're doing "the tight hamstring routine" the book would then list the next stretch in sequence. One of the other stretching books I've read (perhaps the Fitness stretch book, I'm not sure anymore) did this and it was a much better solution.

In any case, although it'll never be among the most popular stretching/fitness books because it doesn't have any brand-name power, it's really worth the money. It has the most stretches per dollar of any of the books I've read (plus the greatest variety--she even covers doing splits) and she does an excellent job of describing how to perform each stretch along with specific "troubleshooting" tips which I've found enormously helpful. I've read most of the recommended stretching books, and this one has stood out for me.

after 15 years and dozens of other stretching books judy alters books are the ones I use the most

I've just started looking at this book and the stretches really do seem effective. The descriptions are detailed and the program is very complete.

I wish it had photos of the stretches instead of drawn diagrams but this does not take away from the book.

All in all, definitely worth buying.

Well thought-out, clear and thorough book. I have several networks books, but this is by far the best I've ever used, even surpassing "Computer Networks: a systems approach". Another advantage of this book is that it has a website with quizzes and results to help reinforce the information displayed in it. A must have for anyone learning about networks.

I had to use this book for a graduate course. It has been very suitable for this purpose. The level of details is good, but not to the point of a protocol standard. If you need to master the concepts and do not want to refer to very superficial practical references or detailed standards this book is right in the middle. Lecturers will find it very appropriate and students will easly grasp the concepts. One can still use some parts of the book as a reference. If the required information is not there some of the references to RFCs and standards will guide the reader to more information elsewhere.

Just recently, I began writing network drivers for my custom Operating System and found myself a little in-the-dark about the proper format for a TCP/IP packet. This book proved to be a great read, and also an extremely useful reference later on.
Two thumbs up.

This may be the best textbook I have ever used. The text is concise and to the point with no extra "fluff". The illustrations are fantastic. The author has spent a tremendous amount of time on these... they take you directly to the meaning of the text, and give a strong visual and intuitive foundation to what has been written. Example problems with answers are numerous, and seem to be placed at exactly the points where you need to stop and work through concepts with pencil and paper. I really can't say enough about this text, I've read it cover to cover. It imparts an amazing amount of technical information without being dry... again, I think it's the illustrations that are so helpful, and it's nice that the author's style is direct and not wordy. I don't think you can buy a better TCP/IP book, this one's worth twice the price.

As a beginner, this book can deliver a full and clear picture about details of TCP/IP including each protocol alogorithm, characteristics and it's usage. One can easily understand the TCP/IP basic architecture even without any experience after reading.

I really don't care of teletubbies. But boy did both of my kids. They loved this book because they ask questions like who's hiding behind the tree and the kids would flip it up or down and find who it was. They were anxious. A very enjoyable book to read and fun!

It's a great book for older kids. My daughter tore all the pop up parts out of the book so now we pretend that it's peek-a-boo.

This pop-up book asks you who's hiding behind different things, with the Teletubbies being behind the first four hiding places. Then comes Noo-noo & finally all the Teletubbies are hidden. While 1 or 2 year olds who like the show will probably get some giggles out of it, the book's art work is lacking. It's pretty stale fare, especially the sky. Couldn't they have put at least one bird, or maybe the sun with the baby's face in it up there? This seems to be a rush-job to capitalize on the popularity of the tv show. Looks like it worked - the copy we have is a 5th edition. There's many other pop-up books out there that are done much better, but if your little kiddies love the Tubbies, I'm sure they'll dig this.

I know most parents cringe at the thought of the Teletubbies,me too, but my one year old loves them. In "Teletubbies Play Hide and Seek" little ones are asked to find the Teletubbies under the flaps. After just a couple of readings she understood how to wait until mommy reads the words before she lifts the flap. She also learned the word boo. It's a little word, but it's a start. You might not enjoy the Teletubbies, but it's worth it to watch your child's face light up.

My 8-month old daughter LOVES this book! It makes her laugh out loud and she already has figured out how to lift the flaps on her own when we read it! It's a cute little book for babies and toddlers. I don't mind the Teletubbies so much anymore! :-)

"The problem we face today needs very little time for its statement. Our lives ... grow too complex and overcrowded ... in frantic fidelity we try to meet at least the necessary minimum of calls upon us. But we're weary and breathless. And we know and regret that our life is slipping away ... in guilty regret we must postpone till next week that deeper life of unshaken composure in the holy Presence, where we sincerely know our true home is, for this week is much too full" (89-90).

Originally published by Quaker author Thomas Kelly in 1941, these words from A Testament of Devotion have never been more applicable than today. We live in a time of unprecedented complexity and confusion. Our high tech culture is obsessed with novelties, gadgets and an endless variety of "time-saving" electronic devices. The world has never known a society with more leisure time on its hands, and yet, we are among the most chronically exhausted, stressed-out people on the planet. There must be a better way!

"For over the margins of life comes a whisper, a faint call, a premonition of richer living which we know we are passing by ... we have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power. If only we could slip over into that Center!" (92).

Thankfully, the author offers hope for those of us who continue to struggle against the forces that would keep us from "slipping over into that Center" of Divine Love, out of which we are enabled to love others as we have been loved by God. The hope Kelly offers us can be found not only in the words he writes, but in the life he, and others, lived. Citing the examples of prominent Quakers such as George Fox and John Woolman, Kelly highlights those traits that set these spiritual leaders apart as passionately devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

The greatest insight for me, however, came through my reading of the biographical memoir written by Kelly's close friend and colleague, Doug Steere, which is attached to the end of the book. Here we discover that living out of the Divine Center came late in life for this intellectually restless, professionally ambitious, Harvard-trained, Quaker scholar. According to Steere, the pivotal event took place sometime in the autumn of 1937, during which time "a new life direction took place in Thomas Kelly. No one knows exactly what happened, but ... a fissure in him seemed to close, cliffs caved in and filled up a chasm, and what was divided grew together within him" (118). A year later, following a summer visit among Friends in Germany, Kelly himself testified to Steere, "It is wonderful. I have been literally melted down by the love of God" (120).

Could it be that each of us is not so different from Thomas Kelly, not to mention George Fox, John Woolman and every other prominent spiritual leader who has gone before us? Could it be that the quickest way to the Divine Center is to recognize and renounce our tendency to live on the fringe of God's purpose for our lives? Could it be that the only way for the spiritual fissures in our lives to close is by allowing the retaining walls we have built up around our souls to cave in? Could it be that the best antidote for "frantic fidelity" is a "holy meltdown"?

Thomas Kelly's A Testament of Devotion is a nugget of solid gold, carefully refined in the furnace of God's purifying love. As such, it issues a call for each of us to surrender our own lives to this same holy fire, with deep confidence that the One who melts and molds us is utterly trustworthy and has our best interest in mind. In the process, we are relieved from the burden of "frantic fidelity" and we can find rest for our weary souls as we recognize that it is God's work, not ours, that will stand the test of time:

"Thus we have begun to live in guidance. And [we] find He never guides us into an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness ... for after all God is at work in the world. It is not we alone who are at work in the world, frantically finishing a work to be offered to God ... we need not get frantic. He is at the helm. And when our little day is done we lie down quietly in peace, for all is well" (100).

I bought this book (the original 1941 version) for 25 cents at a used book store. When I go through a day and find too many plates spinning with several threatening to fall and crash, this book never fails help me find a calmer place from which to work.

Here's two of my favorite passages:

"Our professional status, our social obligations, our membership in this or that very important organization, put claims upon us. And in frantic fidelity we try to meet at least the necessary minimum of calls upon us. But we're weary and breathless. And we know and regret that our life is slipping away, with our having tasted so little of the peace and joy and serenity we are persuaded it should yeild to a soul of wide caliber. The times for the deeps of the silences of the heart seem so few...

"We haven't been able to say No to them, because they seemed so important. But if we center down, as the old phrase goes, and live in that holy Silence which is dearer than life, and take our life program into the silent places of the heart, with complete openness, ready to do, ready to renounce according to His leading, then many of the things we are doing lose their vitality for us...There is a reevaluation of much that we do or try to do, which is done for us, and we know what to do and what to let alone."


I think that even the non-christian would find the book helpful and offer this quote as evidence of the open beauty of the the book:

"The Inner LIght, the Inward Christ, is no mere doctrine, belonging peculiarly to a small religious fellowship, to be accepted or rejected as a mere belief. It is the living Center of Reference for all Christian souls and Christian groups--yes, and of non-Christian groups as well--who seriously mean to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. He is the center and source of action, not the end-point of thought. He is the locus of commitment, not a problem for debate."

If you've read a few of my reviews, read my book, been to my website, or have seen me as a patient, then you probably know that I consider peace to be an important part of keeping excellent health. I've found this book to be an excellent description of how to find peace.

Charles Runels, MD
Author of "Anytime...for as Long as You Want: Strength, Genius, Libido, & Erection by Integrative Sex Transmutation"

I read this book 25 years ago and find that it gives me a feeling of the Inner Light and grounds me in what the spiritual life is all about. It is deeply Christian and yet can resonate with anyone who feels God as a living reality in all religions or no religion. It also touches upon what the Quakers call "consensus", how to let the guiding of the Spirit lead people into an understanding filled agreement about how to live, to heal, and to forgive. I have read other Quaker books, but it seems everything is here in this book. It uses less words than all the others and says everything.

What a beautiful book!! It you are into contemplative prayer, or have devoted a significant part of your life to meditation on God's purpose and direction, this book summarizes your life. Kelly has an amazing ability to describe the joys of inner peace, sifting the things of the world beyond through the sieve of the world within. Inspirational and delightful - enjoy.

Not many books cause me to want to be quiet and small. Welcome to reading Thomas Kelly's A Testament of Devotion. Simple, profound Kelly invites us to an inner journey into the presence of the holy. Words fail-buy it