Love Adds A Little Chocolate: 100 Stories to Brighten Your Day and Sweeten Your Life
by Medard Laz, Warner Books, 1997, 220 pages, $14.

This book serves up little nuggets of love that can cheer you up faster than a Hershey’s Kiss. Each story holds the promise of a happy ending, even if the situation doesn’t look promising. This book presents the opportunity to read a story whenever you need a little pick-me-up.

Much like a box of chocolates, the stories are arranged in separate sections. Each chapter is made up of several short stories. The reader can choose a two to three-page piece to savor for the entire day or devour the entire book without the feeling of guilt that real chocolate can produce, and the book is just as sweet and satisfying.

The first section, “Life,” offers tales of the little everyday things that happen to all of us, but that we soon forget. It deals with such issues as the fact that appearances aren’t important, helping those less fortunate and having faith in yourself.

The second chapter is about caring. It is made up of anecdotes of ordinary people and the good things they do for others. One example is the story of a policeman who stops traffic at a busy New York intersection so a small cat can lap some spilled milk out of the street.

The third chapter deals with understanding, an aspect of life that we all have trouble with at times. It tells of people who found it within themselves to see how it feels to be someone else. The stories help us to realize that other people experience the same feelings of self-doubt and helplessness that we ourselves feel at times.

The fourth chapter is about family. These are the people that see us as we really are – even our ugly sides. These are also the very people that will always find forgiveness for us, no matter what we’ve done. These stories tell of reunions between family members that had lost touch and they remind us that family members matter more than any material possessions.

The fifth chapter is about learning, The lessons presented in this section teach us to cherish every moment of our precious lives, good and bad. It is a reminder once again that we are all alive, sharing the same emotions and that encouragement is always a better teacher than criticism. We also see that things can’t always be changed to go the way we want them to. These are valuable lessons that we often neglect in our daily lives.

Achieving is the subject for the sixth chapter. It is best summed up in the quote by Danny Thomas that begins the chapter: “Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. Success is what you do for others.” It also helps us to realize that we are never given any obstacles that we can’t overcome, no matter how dire.

The seventh chapter is about wisdom, which has nothing to do with education. The wisdom presented in these stories is that which we achieve through living, loving and understanding. Realization that life is short and that getting older doesn’t change life’s value is given to us through the stories.

The final chapter combines all of the previous themes in stories about Christmas. This is the time of year that most people concentrate on being good, being close to their families and exploring the true meaning of the holiday. These tales highlight this and embody the real spirit of Christmas.

Medard Laz has done an incredible job in compiling these stories. Each chapter begins with either a Peanuts or Calvin and Hobbes cartoon to introduce the reader to the theme of the section. Uplifting quotes are scattered throughout the book like those favorite pieces of chocolate in the box. These quotes bring extra warmth and happiness to the reader.

Let the introductory quote of Medard Laz be an inspiration to you: “So many people seem to be searching for a life that has meaning. The simple truth is that every person already possesses a life that has a tremendous worth and value.” Each selection in the book embodies the truth of this statement. Laz has succeeded in creating the perfect primer of life’s little lessons, and presenting them to us in a format that is as easy and fun to digest as chocolate.

Reviewed by Krystal Kaltz

EMISSARY OF LIGHT: MY ADVENTURES WITH THE SECRET PEACEMAKERS
by James F. Twyman, first published by Aslan Publishing 1996, first Warner Books printing 1997, 254 pages, $18.

This particular life adventure with divine light and the One in the center and the 12 emissaries of light begins for boyishly handsome author singer/songwriter James F. Twyman when a friend of his hands him a sheet of paper containing the “peace seeds” (shortened versions of the 12 prayers for peace offered in 1986 in Assisi, Italy, birthplace of St. Francis on the Day of Prayer for World Peace during the United Nations International Year of Peace). At first, Twyman merely throws the sheet in his desk drawer with the other papers nestled therein, but as he tells us in the introduction, he had always felt “a mysterious, passionate longing for the divine.”

This longing had led him to join a monastery one month after graduating from high school, but he couldn’t find what he was seeking there, so he left to continue his journey outside the confines of organized religion. In the winter of 1994, this same longing drew his attention back to the peace seeds. As he sat in his chair reading the prayers, he heard them in his head as if they were being sung to him. Quickly picking up his guitar, he began playing what he was hearing, as he wrote the music down as fast as he could, knowing all the while that he was in the midst of the sort of mystical experience he had always been seeking.

In a series of encounters, Twyman met Lewis Randa, the director of the Peace Abbey and Life Experience School in Boston, who had brought the peace prayers back to the United States from Assisi, was commissioned “Peace Troubadour” by Lewis and the children at the Abbey, had released a CD of these beautiful prayers, and was planning a tour of the United States to perform the Peace Concert. Things were happening fast, but they began to really heat up when the plans to tour Europe that summer began to take shape. Twyman was scheduled to hold concerts in Germany and Italy, but if the way could be cleared, he wanted to bring the Peace Concert to war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. Three days before he was to leave the US, a peace organization named Suncokret, Sunflower in English, invited him to perform in Rijeka, the third largest city in Croatia. Twyman’s book and the additional music on the CD resulted from the spiritual experiences he garners during this leg of the Peace Concert tour.

Early on Twyman tells us that he is a student and teacher of A Course In Miracles, a metaphysical course of study that many in America are familiar with, that teaches how to live life centered in love. We see him making life decisions from his heart time and time again when almost anyone else, operating from ego alone, might have chosen the safer-seeming course of action. Thus, when he reaches Croatia, he is surprised, but not amazed, to find that the two wonderfully welcoming women acting as his official hostesses are students of a privately translated, hand-typed, oft-copied untitled book that turns out to be A Course In Miracles. He knows he is in the presence of the Divine working through him and the people who had brought him thus far.

After spending two days in Rijeka, Twyman has an extraordinary dream about finding a small, wooden 12-sided dome house in a forest clearing. Inside the house, within a 12-spoked wheel lit by dazzling light, sat a man, the One in the center or Teacher, as Twyman would come to call him. This man smiled at him and said he was there to learn about “the peace that has no opposite” and about the 12 emissaries of light who have been holding this vision of peace for humanity for centuries. Teacher told him that he would carry the message to humanity that they are now capable of extending divine light to themselves, to others, and to the world by becoming emissaries of light in their everyday lives.

The next morning, upon awakening, Twyman goes about his life as previously planned, never forgetting about his dream and only telling it to a few of his companions, while leaving plenty of room in his itinerary for the further workings of the Divine. And, believe me, the Divine comes through loud and clear time after time until you are drawn further and further into this marvelous life and spirit affirming adventure. Twyman is a natural storyteller with a deft hand at turning a phrase; his song-writing ability clearly shining through the prose. His is a message the world is hungry to hear and finally capable of carrying out.

Reviewed by Joyce Woody

Known Homeopathic First Aid For Animals:
Tales and Techniques from a Country Practitioner
by Kaetheryn Walker, Healing Arts Press, 1998. 224 Pages, $14.95, paperback

As a child living out in the country I was always “rescuing” injured or abandoned animals. I wish I had had this book back then, maybe my “patients” would have had a higher survival rate.

Most people have first aid kits and instructions in their homes to help out when humans are hurt, but few would know what to do for their pets. Kaetheryn Walker has compiled a very helpful handbook for such situations, including standard first aid for animals and homeopathic remedies that can greatly help with calming, healing and recovery.

The book is arranged for easy reference to whatever the emergency may be. Included are true stories about accidents happening to her pets and those of her friends. The stories tear at your heart when you read them and think of the pain that the animals are going through, but each has a happy ending which results from the homeopathic know-how of the author and her veterinarian.

The book is not intended to replace the veterinarian in situations where you are dealing with a sick or injured animal, however, it does show how certain remedies can alleviate pain, anxiety and other symptoms until a veterinarian can be reached. It also gives helpful insight into what to do if you should come upon an abandoned animal. Central to each situation is love and care for the animal.

The specific remedies are listed, described and you are told exactly how much to give and how to administer it. The book includes sources where such homeopathic remedies can be purchased. This method of healing is based on the “like cures like” theory, which means that the cause of the irritation can usually be cured by the same substance in much smaller amounts. This is the same theory that goes into making antivenom for snakebites out of the very same poison from the snake.

Walker has been careful to explain that while some things may seem mean, flicking remedies into the animals face so they will lick them off for example, the benefits far outweigh the bad. In reading the book, you can tell right away that the author is highly compassionate to any member of the animal world. This makes the remedies explained in the book that much more valid to the reader because you are certain that she would never endanger an animal.

After explanations of the remedies, the book begins with the most important step in first aid of any kind: accident prevention. It serves as a reminder that our pets are much like small children. They don't know better a lot of the time and can often get in harm's way without even knowing it. Petproofing the house is imperative, just like you would do with a child who is just learning to walk. As a matter of fact, the preventative measures that you take are almost identical to those that would be taken for a child.

Chapters 3 through 37 focus on specific injuries, accidents and sicknesses. Some of the chapters begin with a story pertaining to the subject of the chapter. Others begin with a short introductory paragraph about the situation. Following the introduction, there are sections that give first aid instructions, followed by homeopathic instructions and finally, a list of different symptoms that enable you to personalize the treatment to the individual situation. For example, the chapter on abscesses gives five different categories of the severity of the symptoms, each with a different corresponding homeopathic remedy.

The chapters cover a wide variety of ailments, including the typical cuts and bleeding, trauma, eye injuries and insect and other animal bites. Also covered are unusual situations such as burns, electrocution, birth, teeth injuries and back injuries.

Each chapter is specially suited to different types of animals, not just your typical dog or cat. For example, explicit instructions are given on how to administer eye drops to members of the reptile family and even how to rescue a bird that has flown into the window, something I am personally very familiar with!

Reading the book, I found that much of the first aid is common sense and similar to that which would be performed on humans. Shock patients are to be covered and kept warm and soothing talk is always a plus when helping out a patient, human or otherwise.

The book ends with a list of first aid items that should be found in every household, with the usual items such as hydrogen peroxide, gauze pads and waterproof adhesive tape. Also included are things like a cardboard box for transport and a preassembled homeopathy kit (no messy measuring and mixing!) and the one item that is not included, but should be, is this book.

Reviewed by Krystal Kaltz

As You Believe
by Barbara Dewey, 208 pages, $14.95, published by Bartholomew Books, Box 634, Inverness, CA 94937, 1985

This book should be a Bible for everyone who searches for improvements in his or her life. Not only can we now grasp how the universe actually works, but we can put these better laws to good use in our daily lives.

From relationships that are proving unsatisfactory to money and health problems, this book offers step-by-step guidance to overcoming our stumbling blocks – literally through the power of our own minds. Simply put, if we change our beliefs about life, we will change our lives.

But there is much more to the information in the book than outlining the power and importance of mind in our daily lives. Dewey gives us specific information (and cures) concerning the psychology that keeps us bound to old habits of thinking. Chapter titles like “Making Ourselves Winners,” “What to Do About Losing,” and “Beliefs That Undermine Health” give every reader a brand new (and positive) perspective on problem solving.

One of my favorite passages is the following because I think it exemplifies the positive tone of the book: “Each and every one of us is entitled to all the joy and happiness and health and material advantage that the best of us can envision. It is our inheritance. But it cannot be forced upon us without denying the freedom of choice. The good life is voluntary.. . It remains up to us to make those choices.”

This is a book that has profoundly changed my own life. I think it could do the same for anyone.

Reviewed by Earldine Brokaw

TEACH ONLY LOVE, THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF ATTITUDINAL HEALING
by Gerald Jampolsky, Bantam Books, 1983. $6.95

I first read Teach Only Love in March of 1985, two years after it was published and three years before I would feel compelled by my own inner guidance to purchase A Course in Miracles, the book Jampolsky cites as the source from which he derived the principles of Attitudinal Healing.

He tells us that the first and overall principle of Attitudinal Healing is, “Give only love, teach only peace and never turn to attack in any form for your safety,” then of how he and his staff at the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Tiburon, CA put these principles into action through loving, selfless service to children with life-threatening diseases. “I came to see,” he writes, “that healing and love are inseparable.”

How Jampolsky came to have this transformation in his thought process is attributed to a series of events during a period of time just before and after his 50th birthday. In 1974, he was a physician with a successful private practice, but he was also a problem drinker whose marriage of 20 years was ending in a painful divorce. That same year, he was invited to Swami Muktananda’s Oakland Ashram to take Kirlian photos of his hands. While there Baba, as Muktananda was affectionately called, brushed him with a long peacock feather, thereby initiating the estactic energy experience known as shaktipat. Someone there took Jampolsky’s photo in which he said he looked “like a male Mona Lisa with eyes of light and a smile hiding a secret.” Then, in the spring of 1975, a female colleague and close friend urged him to read some unpublished material she had just received. This material was A Course in Miracles. As he read deeper and deeper, he said, “A complete new life began to open up for me as I recognized that my purpose here on earth was only to experience God and to extend his peace. In other words, to teach only love.” Within the next eight months, as he started living a unified life, he stopped drinking and his 192-pound frame returned to a trim, healthy 162 pounds. As he continued to live in love, he radiated peace inwardly and outwardly and came to formulate the seven principles of Attitudinal Healing.

How grateful I am that he sat down to write his story and how thankful I am that I sat down to read it again. It was well worth the second look.

Reviewed by Joyce Woody

ON MY WAY HOME
by Fr. Jay Samonie, Morris Publishing, 1998, $14.95, ISBN 1-57502-788-7

On My Way Home is the life of Fr. Jay Samonie, spiritually adventurous and Catholic to the bone. He was an inner city Pastor whose parish served the social, medical and legal needs of 30,000 people each year, the only priest ever to serve on the Judicial Tenure Commission in the state of Michigan (judging judges), and an accomplished artist who never had a lesson but whose many paintings graced two separate art exhibits and sold out. All of the above made newspaper and television stories.

What few people knew, until now, is that from the age of 7 Jay Samonie was blessed with mystical experiences and cultivated a unique spiritual life that touched on miraculous healings, psychic revelations, and past life knowledge.

Now retired, Fr. Samonie tells his astonishing story so charmingly and matter-of-factly that he cannot help but encourage and inspire believers and skeptics alike. The book mingles into one fascinating life, The Beatitudes and The Ancient Wisdom, the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas and The Silva Method of Mind Development, the Daily Reading of Sacred Scripture and The Edgar Cayce readings, and enough miracles, large and small to last several lifetimes. On My Way Home is the true story of a “wonderful life” still in progress.

If you have ever wondered about how you can intermingle your religious upbringing with the reality and truths of metaphysical thoughts, this is the book to read. I was honored to meet this man. He confirmed all I have ever known.

At the back of his book is his address in Westland, Michigan, and he encourages you to write to him with any questions you may have. Read his book, it can only enlighten and stimulate you too.

Reviewed by Michelle A. Cox Lomas

A SINGLE EYE OF LIGHT: SACRED VISIONS (Poems and Letters)
by Ronnie R. Gleason, Morris Publishing, 1997, $9.95, 159 pgs

Ronne R. Gleason a former national weightlifting champion also formerly referred to by the media as “Cosmic Strong Man” for his weightlifting feats, is also a certified teaching instructor of the United States National Tennis Academy, a graduate of the University of Michigan with concentrations in Psychology, Religion and Philosophy with post graduate work in Comparative Religion and Foreign Literature at Harvard. In his second book, Gleason presents a literary tapestry of metaphors woven among letters and poems.

With poems steeped in cosmic fragrance and personal letters woven in silken yarn, Gleason serves a literal feast for the mind, a smorgasbord of mystical and psychological verse that reverberates long afterward in the mind of the reader.

In “A Child is Born,” the author shares in poetic fashion the futility of base pleasures of the flesh and his eventual understanding that they cause a mis-alignment with the splendorous influences of the heavenly worlds.

In the long letter, “Letter To A Young Woman” the author introduces psychospiritual commentaries on the inner life with a brief introduction to the Gurdjieff-Ouspensky teachings. Two of the gems are as follows: Self-Remembering, the need to transport consciousness into the waking state or self-remembered mode. This state has nothing to do with what you imagine it to be. This has nothing to do with contemporary psychological self-help meandering(s). The second gem, the metaphysical sexual interplay of energy between male and female resulting in the karmic consequences of becoming one flesh.

In the “Thank You Poem” the author extols the teaching value of a myriad of personal encounters in life.

In “Overheard In The Gym,” the author introduces an imaginary conversation between a basketball, a basketball backboard, a basketball rim and players. A sensational review on managing both the win and loss columns of one’s heart, metaphor after metaphor elucidates similarities between the inner and outer terrain.

In “Visitor From Afterlife,” the author relates a dialogue between deceased and living mate after half century of married life.

In “Juggler Man,” the author jumps inside the psyche of an alcoholic-manic depressive dissecting the inner turf and articulates back (mirrors) to victim his dementia.

This book is garnished in wisdom for young and old alike. A true expository of the laboratory of the mind that must be kept clean to see things clearly. Shocking revelations! There is also to be found shades of Buddhism in footnotes and in the quatrains.

With over 20 profound and insightful chapters, one must not miss this golden opportunity to look beyond the appearance of things. Few books offer as much.

Reviewed by Donald MacDonald

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, an uncommon dialogue, Book 3
by Neale Donald Walsch, Hampton Roads Publishing, 1998, $22.95, 392 pgs.

I read Conversations with God, Book 3 first. I came upon it by accident, although I don’t believe in coincidences. I was looking for a particular book for my mother and as I couldn't find what I was looking for, I tried asking for it at the information counter of the bookstore.

Neale Donald Walsch’s book, Conversations With God, Book 3 had just come out and happened to be sitting there beside the counter. I picked it up and began flipping through it. I bought it. The book is as you would expect with a title about conversations. It has a question and answer format and after reading a small part of the conversation in that brief time, I felt compelled to buy it.

I hadn't yet read Books 1 or 2. I had always hungered for the truth and reading the back cover of Book 3, I found that is exactly what this book was about. “You are always a part of God, because you are never apart from God. This is the truth of your being. We are whole. So now YOU know the whole truth.”

Neale is just a person, like you or I, with day to day problems just like everyone else. All three of his books came about literally because of the frustration he felt with his life. He took pen to paper and wrote an angry letter to God. What happened as a result was totally unexpected. Out of Neale’s frustration came the truth, love and joy of God.

As God states on the back cover, “The question is not, to whom do I talk, but who listens?”

Neale asked and God listened ...

Book 3 goes beyond the questions of day-to-day living. It deals with universal truths. I found that the questions Neale asked God were questions I had asked myself over and over again. Why are we here? What happens when we die? What is out there? Are we alone? What will happen to the Earth if we keep going the way we are going?

This is the kind of book you can pick up and put down and open to any page and just read whatever chapter takes your fancy that day. I found Conversations With God, Book 3 to be both the hardest and the easiest book I have ever read.

Hard, because there is so much information contained within the pages that you really need to take your time to read it. The knowledge that comes from within these pages needs time to wash over you. Your brain will be using up more than the 10 percent it uses now, or at least mine did! Time is needed to digest all the wonderful spiritual principles contained within its pages. So it may take you awhile to read, but the trip is certainly worth it.

Easy, because of the spiritual joy you receive as a result of reading it. This book really changed my life. I feel that it brought me closer to understanding who I am and where I am going. The spiritual messages abound in this wonderful uplifting account of a conversation that you or I could have with God.

There are three basic wisdoms contained within. These are:
We are all One, there’s enough and there's nothing we have to do.

I don’t believe I found this book by accident. God has shaped the words perfectly in Book 3 to say what I have known in my heart all along. It was one of the most spiritually uplifting books I have ever read. It doesn't matter what religion, race or nationality you are. It’s a book for everyone because we are all connected, we are all one.

Reviewed by Sharon Wiechec

HEAL YOUR BODY A-Z
by Louise L. Hay, Hay House,1998. 144 pages, $17.95

Louise L. Hay continuously publishes ground-breaking books. In this latest book, sure to be a classic, Louise, who calls herself the “Queen of Affirmations,” has gifted us with another marvelous tool for self healing.

Hay House began over a decade ago when Louise published her now-classic text You Can Heal Your Life. This book created controversy because it had the gall (imagine that) to suggest that our illnesses stemmed from our thoughts! It then went further to list specifically what our thought patterns were in order to create certain disharmonies in our body. And then it offered affirmations that could be used to break through these beliefs and assist in healing. Nonsense, some said. Yet millions read it, repeated the affirmations and experienced miraculous healings in their lives. The real testimony of this book is that it is still in print today and continues to hover at the top of the best selling list of self-help books.

Heal Your Body A-Z expands on this and another of her books called Heal Your Body. In the introduction Louise writes, “These days, no matter how dire a person’s predicament seems to be, I KNOW that if he or she is WILLING to do the mental work of releasing and forgiving, almost anything can be healed. The word incurable, which is so frightening to so many people, really only means that the particular condition cannot be cured by ‘outer’ methods and that we must GO WITHIN to effect the healing. The condition came from nothing and will go back to nothing.”

Louise L. Hay is a living example of what she teaches, having healed herself of cancer many years ago. She realized then that we have within us an awesome power, that mind-body connection, that can be used to heal the body.

Heal Your Body A-Z is an easy-to-use guide printed in a friendly format. Just look up your specific health challenge and the probable cause is listed there along with the information you need to overcome it by creating a new thought pattern. A great gift to give to someone you love, like yourself.

Reviewed by Cindy Saul

TRAVELING MERCIES, SOME THOUGHTS ON FAITH
by Anne Lamott, Pantheon Books, 1999, $23.00

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, her hilarious book about writers and writing, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her latest tome, Traveling Mercies, Some Thoughts on Faith. Once again I was ready to be entertained, to laugh, to cry, to learn some universal truths and gain insights about myself and the world I live in.

Lamott did not disappoint. She gives her all in this, her own story, her search for a lasting belief and faith. In her search she spares herself nothing in divulging the truth about her troubled past in minute and often excruciating detail, details most of us might not reveal except in a 12-step program or through a panel confessing to a priest, and probably not a local parish priest at that.

She tells it all unflinchingly in her humorous, oft times, self-deprecating way, exposing her flaws, her inhibitions, her addictions to drugs and alcohol, her long bout with bulimia, her tiniest fears and phobias and insecurities, the many and often charming details about life with her young son Sam as well as her life as a single mother.

It is the mundane details that Lamott manages to bring to life, describing the animosity she feels about her butt, “the two aunties,” as she calls it, managing to get us to laugh along with her, understanding as every woman does our quirky thoughts about some particular part of our body which makes us crazy. It is this ability to take the smallest incident and cut into the kernel of truth and insight, allowing us to see clearly the absurdity and truth of our own lives and how we often manage to dwell on the negatives instead of the positives.

In the opening lines of the book, Lamott reveals her coming to faith “did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers from one safe place to another.” Like lily pads, … a lovely metaphor with each chapter becoming a pad or link to the next in the search which led her from a non-religious upbringing by her parents, through the various religions of friends as she grew up: Catholicism, Christian Science, Judaism and eventually as a world-weary and beleaguered adult to St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, in Marin City, California.

Lamott tells the stories of various members of the all-black congregation and their many acts of kindness to her during a bleak period of her life; how basically, she was patiently drawn into the church by the people after months of standing by the door, immersed in the glorious voices raised in praise to the Lord through their gospel songs.

Interspersed throughout the text are her favorite inspirational quotes from famous and not-so famous authors: Rumi, Raymond Carver, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, Langston Hughes, Vanao Sakaki and Joanna Macy to name a few. These poems help reveal the deeper side of Lamott’s feelings about life.

In the end you may be left thinking, as I was, if she could do this – make her way to an extraordinary faith, write numerous books, find a healthier way of living after what she’s been through – then any one of us can do it as well.

Reviewed by Marilyn Rauth