Showing results by author "A. J. Park" in All Categories

Eamon Tauk was literally born into the Space Corps. They spent two decades forging him into a Marine. Training him to be a killer. Twisting him into a fanatic. Then they assigned him to protect Dr. Jella Duverii, a mildly subversive alien zoologist who could very well undo all the work they put into him. When the young cadet and his charge crash land on Kanaris with the survivors of their Recon battalion, they find themselves leagues away from their objective, marooned in an environment so hostile even the trees seem hellbent on killing them.

Finding one's calling is not just about finding something we can do - it is about finding what we can't not do. "Let your life speak" is a time-honored Quaker admonition to live one's life as witness to the deepest truths one knows. But as Parker Palmer explains, those words can also mean "listen to your life, and let it tell you what your truth is."

Reframing aging as "a passage of discovery and engagement", Palmer says, "Old is just another word for nothing left to lose, a time to take bigger risks on behalf of the common good." On the Brink of Everything is not a "guide to" or "handbook for" getting old. Instead, it's Palmer turning the prism of insight on his experience as a way of encouraging listeners to do the same with theirs. In elegant prose and lyrical poetry, he offers a set of meditations on the meanings of one's life - past, present, and future.

At a critical time in American life, Parker J. Palmer looks with realism and hope at how to deal with our political tensions for the sake of the common good - without the shouting, blaming, or defaming so common in our politics today.

Enjoy the wisdom, compassion, gentle humor, and companionship of a master teacher in a beloved book that has helped hundreds of thousands of people find their way toward meaning and purpose.

This is the history of how the City was saved, by Notker the professional liar, written down because eventually the truth always seeps through.

There’s no formal training for battlefield salvage. You just have to pick things up as you go along. Swords, armour, arrows–and the bodies, of course. Over the years, Saevus Corax has picked up a lot of things. Some of them have made him decent money, others have brought nothing but trouble. But it’s a living, and somebody has to deal with the dead. Something else that Saevus has buried is his past. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite succeed.

This book builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique but is rooted in the identity and integrity of the teacher. Good teaching takes myriad forms but good teachers share one trait: they are authentically present in the classroom, in community with their students and their subject. They possess "a capacity for connectedness" and are able to weave a complex web of connections between themselves, their subjects, and their students, helping their students weave a world for themselves.

If you’re going to get ahead in the battlefield salvage business, you have to regard death as a means to an end. In other words, when the blood flows, so will the cash. Unfortunately, even though war is on the way, Saevus Corax has had enough.

A Hidden Wholeness has helped people in every walk of life rise to the challenge of living "divided no more." What leads us to live divided lives that defy our own sense of identity and integrity? When we do, what price do we and the world pay? How can we recover the wholeness that is our birthright gift? Palmer examines the forces that deflect us from the soul's true north and gives us the tools we need to regain our bearings. Palmer explores perspectives and practices that can help us embody integrity in a world where it often feels risky to be who we are.

I've loved Evan Morgan ever since I was a little girl. Growing up, he was my best friend. I thought he always would be. Turns out, I was wrong. September 30th was the day my world shattered. In the blink of an eye, everything changed. Now, my heart is broken. My life is chaos. And my mind? It's a mess. The only thing that still makes sense is how I feel about Evan. I love him more than anything, but it's not enough anymore. I'm tired of chasing after him, tired of being held at arm's length.

If you are struggling to process loss, pain, or grief from the last few years or the last few minutes, J.S. is an experienced and deeply empathetic listener and grief catcher who has held the pain and questions of thousands of patients. While social and cultural narratives about grief are dominated by "letting go, moving on, or turning the page" in his nearly decade of service as a chaplain at a major hospital with a designated level one trauma center J.S. understands firsthand how rushing or suppressing grief only adds a suffocating layer of pain on top of the original wound.

How often do you hear inner voices saying you’re not good enough, not tough enough, not fit enough? How much time do you spend dwelling on regret, shame, and things you wish you could do over? Research shows that when we truly accept ourselves, it changes everything. We become less reactive and more resilient. Our physical health improves. We are capable of deeper and more satisfying relationships. In The Self-Acceptance Summit: Volume One, you’ll find a collection of insights, encouraging voices, and on-the-spot tools to help you transform your relationship with yourself.

A husband always wants more sex than his wife, right? Many marriage resources make that assumption, but up to twenty-five percent of marriages have a higher desire wife! While these women are not alone, they may feel that way as standard sex advice doesn't address their needs. They may even feel like there is something wrong with them or they should be ashamed of their high sex drive.

A Hidden Wholeness is a thoughtful and heartfelt examination of sources and consequences of the alienation we feel when our inner and outer lives become divorced from each other, when external forces pressure us to depart from our soul's true yearnings. The book lifts up the problem of the "divided life", diagnoses its sources, assesses its personal and social costs, and offers a model of community that will help people live with greater integrity and wholeness.

A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all. To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far more experience with bridge building than battles, is a cheat and a liar, and has a serious problem with authority. He is, in other words, perfect for the job.

As a hospital chaplain, J.S. Park encountered hundreds of patients at the edge of life and death, listening as they urgently shared their stories, confessions, and final words. J.S. began to identify patterns in his patients’ lives — patterns he also saw in his own life. He began to see that the events and traumas we experience throughout life become deafening voices that remain within us, even when the events are far in the past.

John Parker never had to look far for an advocate and mentor to help him overcome his greatest challenges, from his father's abuse to the tragic loss of his son. His great-aunt Gladys, or "Glad," was always there, telling him he was destined for extraordinary things and inspiring him to become the person he was meant to be. In Be the Dawn in the Darkness, John invites you on his journey from heartbreak to happiness, fear to resolution in this inspirational account of a boy and his harbinger.

The City may be under siege, but everyone still has to make a living. Take Notker, the acclaimed playwright, actor and impresario. Nobody works harder, even when he's not working. Thankfully, it turns out that people appreciate an evening at the theatre even when there are large rocks falling out of the sky. But Notker is a man of many talents and all the world is, apparently, a stage.

When the exiled Prince Okisada, the most illustrious prisoner of the penal colony on Sado Island, is poisoned, Akitada is called upon by the emperor's envoys to investigate incognito. Posing as a prisoner, he discovers a deadly conspiracy, only to fall into the hands of brutal guards and disappear. It falls to Tora, Akitada's devoted assistant, to begin his own dangerous search of the island for his lost friend and the truth.