Discussion: September 5th
Leffler Living Room
6:00 to 7:30 PM

The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, The Environment, and Crossing From Crisis to Sustainability
by James Gustave Speth
$18.00 Paperback

How serious are the threats to our environment? Here is one measure of the problem: if we continue to do exactly what we are doing, with no growth in the human population or the world economy, the world in the latter part of this century will be unfit to live in. Of course human activities are not holding at current levels — they are accelerating, dramatically — and so, too, is the pace of climate disruption, biotic impoverishment, and toxification. In his new book, Speth, author of Red Sky at Morning and a widely respected environmentalist, begins with the observation that the environmental community has grown in strength and sophistication, but the environment has continued to decline, to the point that we are now at the edge of catastrophe. Our vital task is now to change the operating instructions for today’s destructive world economy before it is too late. This book is about how to do that.

Deep Economy The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
by Bill McKibben
$14.00 Paperback

In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. Deep Economy makes the compelling case for moving beyond “growth” as the paramount economic ideal and pursuing prosperity in a more local direction, with regions producing more of their own food, generating more of their own energy, and even creating more of their own culture and entertainment. Our purchases need not be at odds with the things we truly value, McKibben argues, and the more we nurture the essential humanity of our economy, the more we will recapture our own.

Discussion: August 15th
Leffler Living Room
6:00 to 7:30 PM

Plenitude The New Economics of True Wealth
by Juliet B. Schor
$25.95 Hardcover

In Plenitude economist and bestselling author Juliet B. Schor offers a groundbreaking intellectual statement about the economics and sociology of ecological decline, suggesting a radical change in how we think about consumer goods, value, and ways to live. Humans are degrading the planet far faster than they are regenerating it. Food, energy, transport, and consumer goods are becoming increasingly expensive. The economic downturn accompanying the ecological crisis has led to a scarcity of income, jobs, and credit . Our usual way back to growth – a debt-financed consumer boom – is no longer an option we can afford.

Through a major shift to new sources of wealth, green technologies, and different ways of living, Plenitude puts sustainability at its core. As Schor observes, people are busy creating lifestyles that offer a way out of the work and spend cycle. These pioneers' lives are scarce in conventional consumer goods and rich in the newly abundant resources of time, information, creativity, and community. Taken together, these trends represent a movement away from the conventional market and offer a way toward an efficient, rewarding life in an era of high prices and traditional resource scarcity. In encouraging us to value our gifts – nature, community, intelligence, and time – Schor offers a road map for creating a world of wealth and well-being for the next two decades with Plenitude.

God Has A Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time
by Desmond Tutu
$10.95 Paperback

God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time is a deeply personal book that Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu calls "a cumulative expression of my life's work." In it, he shares the spiritual message that guided him through the South African struggle for human rights, showing how individual and global suffering can be transformed into joy and redemption. He helps us to "see with the eyes of the heart" and to cultivate the qualities of love, forgiveness, humility, generosity, and courage that we need to change ourselves and our world.

No Future Without Forgiveness
by Desmond Tutu
$15.95 Paperback

South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to move the country forward by exposing the atrocities committed in the past and by achieving reconciliation with its former oppressors. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, named as Chairman of the commission by President Nelson Mandela, was at the center of this attempt at healing. In No Future Without Forgiveness Archbishop Tutu offers his reflections on the profound wisdom he has gained by helping usher South Africa through this painful experience. He argues that true reconciliation cannot be achieved by denying the past. Rather than repeat platitudes about forgiveness, he presents a bold spirituality that recognizes the horrors people can inflict upon one another, and yet retains a sense of idealism about reconciliation. With a clarity of pitch born out of decades of experience, Tutu shows readers how to move forward with honesty and compassion to build a newer and more humane world.

Rainbow People of God
by Desmond Tutu
$15.95 Paperback

The Rainbow People Of God traces South Africa's glorious victory over apartheid in the writings and speeches of one its central figures, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. From the graveside of Steven Biko to the triumphant inauguration of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa, Tutu's words and presence helped shape events and led South Africa toward justice and freedom. This astonishing tapestry of narrative is not only a valuable historical document of those significant events, but it also showcases the unique sense of spirit of one of the foremost spiritual leaders in the world. Tested through the greatest adversity, these writings will endure for generations to come by their truly powerful combination of compassion and strength.

Souls in the Hands of a Tender God: Stories of the Search for Home and Healing on the Streets
by Craig Rennebohm
$16.00 Paperback

How do we reach out to the hurt and bring care to our neighbor? How does the Spirit move in our lives to support healing and bring forth well-being among us? How do we know God, especially in the most trying and difficult circumstances?

From a street chaplain's work with homeless people who suffer from mental illness come uplifting stories of hope and redemption and a call to us all to build healing communities.

View from the Tent: Thoughts from a homeless man
complied by M. Barrett Miller
$15.95 Paperback

From M. Barrett Miller: "Atreus was a homeless man living in various shelters in Seattle, Washington. Over the period of several years, Atreus gave me his writings; his thoughts on his life and those around him. These musings come from a man who was crushed by violence and loss. His reflections and stories will give hope to those people supporting others in similar situations, living in the outskirts of society. Its easy to look at a group of homeless without seeing the stories behind the faces that may make a lot of us very uncomfortable. In respect to all those in similar circumstances, net proceeds will be dedicated to serving the poor, the sick, and the homeless."

Willing the Good: Jesus, Dissent, and Desire
by Paula M. Cooey
$20.00 Paperback

Although Christianity began as a dissident movement, and in the Reformation recreated itself through dissent, traditional Christianity has always been uneasy with dissent and pluralism. Whether directed against the church itself or the larger society, dissent has been most often met with ridicule and persecution. In Willing the Good, Cooey begins with the reforming impulse from Reformation times, follows it back through the early church's internal and external battles, and traces it back to Jesus himself. She shows how a strong affirmation of dissent as a Christian duty can inform a more open and faithful church as well as a publicly relevant theology and ethics.