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The Longer-Lasting Inspirational Bathroom Book: More Facts, Stories, and Humor from the Good Book
by W. B. FreemanShort, pithy pieces--including stories, jokes, little-known facts, brief biographies, quotes, word puzzles, and quizzes--offer fascinating information for anyone with a few minutes to spare. Readers will find that not only are they learning something, they're being uplifted by the entertaining trivia, heartwarming stories, and humorous anecdotes.
The Longest Journey: Southeast Asians and the Pilgrimage to Mecca
by Eric TagliacozzoThe pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, has been a yearly phenomenon of great importance in Muslim lands for well over one thousand years. Each year, millions of pilgrims from throughout the Dar al-Islam, or Islamic world, stretching from Morocco east to Indonesia, make the trip to Mecca as one of the five pillars of their faith. By the end of the nineteenth century, and the beginning of the twentieth, fully half of all pilgrims making the journey in any given year could come from Southeast Asia. The Longest Journey, spanning eleven modern nation-states and seven centuries, is the first book to offer a history of the Hajj from one of Islam's largest and most important regions.
The Longest Journey: Southeast Asians and the Pilgrimage to Mecca
by Eric TagliacozzoThe pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, has been a yearly phenomenon of great importance in Muslim lands for well over one thousand years. Each year, millions of pilgrims from throughout the Dar al-Islam, or Islamic world, stretching from Morocco east to Indonesia, make the trip to Mecca as one of the five pillars of their faith. By the end of the nineteenth century, and the beginning of the twentieth, fully half of all pilgrims making the journey in any given year could come from Southeast Asia. The Longest Journey, spanning eleven modern nation-states and seven centuries, is the first book to offer a history of the Hajj from one of Islam's largest and most important regions.
The Longest Week: The truth about Jesus' last days
by Nick PageWhat really happened during Jesus' final days? It was, historically speaking, nothing much; a death in Jerusalem, a routine execution at the edge of an empire. Yet that execution - and the events surrounding it - were to have a profound effect on the history of the world. The last week of Jesus' life on earth was probably the most important week in history. This book aims to reconstruct the events of those days. From Jesus' entry to Jerusalem on the Sunday, to his resurrection a week later; this book explores the claims and explode the myths. It looks seriously at the evidence of the gospel accounts, without ducking the controversies and contradictions. It focuses on the history rather than the spiritual and theological significance of events and uses archaeological research and detailed Biblical analysis to take the reader through THE LONGEST WEEK.
Longing and Letting Go: Christian and Hindu Practices of Passionate Non-Attachment (AAR Academy Series)
by Holly HillgardnerMirabai, a sixteenth-century Indian princess, wrote passionate love songs to Lord Krishna. Hadewijch, a thirteenth-century European Beguine, wrote of her yearning to become Love itself, to be "God with God." Each woman practiced a full-bodied, sensuously-imaged longing for love; at the same time, each also practiced certain ascetic disciplines. Spanning centuries, continents, and religious traditions, this book juxtaposes Hadewijch's and Mirabai's inextricable energies of longing and letting go as resources for a comparative theology of passionate non-attachment. Within both Hinduism and Christianity, desire and renunciation are often presented as opposites; yet, both Mirabai and Hadewijch, in their own distinct ways, illuminate the integral, tensile relationship between these concepts. Rather than choosing one or the other, each woman's dual practices of longing and letting go not only take her on an inward spiritual journey but also deeply involve her in the beauty and suffering of the wider world. Drawing out crucial differences and intriguing resonances between these two women of faith, Hillgardner develops a Hindu-Christian comparative theology that argues for an interreligious ethic of passionate non-attachment, one capacious and brave enough to hold together our own longings with the desires of others in an interconnected, fragile world.
Longing and Letting Go: Christian and Hindu Practices of Passionate Non-Attachment (AAR Academy Series)
by Holly HillgardnerMirabai, a sixteenth-century Indian princess, wrote passionate love songs to Lord Krishna. Hadewijch, a thirteenth-century European Beguine, wrote of her yearning to become Love itself, to be "God with God." Each woman practiced a full-bodied, sensuously-imaged longing for love; at the same time, each also practiced certain ascetic disciplines. Spanning centuries, continents, and religious traditions, this book juxtaposes Hadewijch's and Mirabai's inextricable energies of longing and letting go as resources for a comparative theology of passionate non-attachment. Within both Hinduism and Christianity, desire and renunciation are often presented as opposites; yet, both Mirabai and Hadewijch, in their own distinct ways, illuminate the integral, tensile relationship between these concepts. Rather than choosing one or the other, each woman's dual practices of longing and letting go not only take her on an inward spiritual journey but also deeply involve her in the beauty and suffering of the wider world. Drawing out crucial differences and intriguing resonances between these two women of faith, Hillgardner develops a Hindu-Christian comparative theology that argues for an interreligious ethic of passionate non-attachment, one capacious and brave enough to hold together our own longings with the desires of others in an interconnected, fragile world.
Longing For God: Seven Paths Of Christian Devotion (Renovare Resources Ser.)
by Richard Foster Gayle BeebeLONGING FOR GOD is a new book from Richard Foster, author of LIFE WITH GOD, CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE and PRAYER, written with Gayle Beebe. Over the centuries, people have become alive to the presence of God in various different ways. This book identifies seven primary paths of devotion to God that draw from the great saints of the Church, and provides a history and practice of Christian spirituality that is available to all believers who long to enter into a conversational and redemptive life with God.LONGING FOR GOD blends a reading of the core texts of the Christian faith with 'reflecting and responding' sections that help the reader to use the various texts on their own spiritual journey. Each chapter explores a particular path towards God embodied by various classic spiritual writers, illuminating our understanding of the Christian life.Written in an inviting, interactive style, LONGING FOR GOD examines such themes as the spiritual life as journey; the imitation of Christ; action and contemplation - all of which can draw us closer to the presence of God.
Longing for Home: Forced Displacement and Postures of Hospitality
by M. Jan HoltonWhat is it about the concept of “home” that makes its loss so profound and devastating, and how should the trauma of exile and alienation be approached theologically? M. Jan Holton examines the psychological, social, and theological impact of forced displacement on communities in the Congo and South Sudan and on indigenous Batwa tribespersons in Uganda, as well as on homeless U.S. citizens and on U.S. soldiers returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. She draws on ethnographic work in Africa, extensive research in practical theology, sociology, and psychology, as well as on professional work and personal experiences in America and abroad. In doing so she explores how forced displacement disrupts one’s connection with the home place and the profound characteristics it fosters that can help people lean toward flourishing spiritually and psychologically throughout their lifetime. Displacement invites a social alienation that can become deeply institutionalized, threatening the moral well being of us all. Longing For Home offers a frame for understanding how communities can respond to refugees and various homeless populations by cultivating hospitality outside of their own comfort zones. This essential study addresses an urgent interreligious global concern and Holton’s thoughtful and compelling work offers a constructive model for a sustained practical response.
Longing for Home (Mirror Lake #4)
by Kathryn SpringerIt seems like the perfect solution: hotel mogul Alex Porter will manage his sister’s small-town bed-and-breakfast while she honeymoons.
Longing for the Good Life: Virtue Ethics After Protestantism (T&T Clark Enquiries in Theological Ethics)
by Pieter VosThis book argues that Protestant theological ethics not only reveals basic virtue ethical characteristics, but also contributes significantly to a viable contemporary virtue ethics. Pieter Vos demonstrates that post-Reformation theological ethics still understands the good in terms of the good life, takes virtues as necessary for living the good life and considers human nature as a source of moral knowledge. Vos approaches Protestant theology as an important bridge between pre-modern virtue ethics, shaped by Aristotle and transformed by Augustine of Hippo, and late modern understandings of morality. The volume covers a range of topics, going from eudaimonism and Calvinist ethics to Reformed scholastic virtue ethics and character formation in the work of Søren Kierkegaard. The author shows how Protestantism has articulated other-centered virtues from a theology of grace, affirmed ordinary life and emphasized the need of transformation of this life and its orders. Engaging with philosophy of the art of living, Neo-Aristotelianism and exemplarist ethics, he develops constructive contributions to a contemporary virtue ethics.
Longing for the Good Life: Virtue Ethics after Protestantism (T&T Clark Enquiries in Theological Ethics)
by Pieter VosThis book argues that Protestant theological ethics not only reveals basic virtue ethical characteristics, but also contributes significantly to a viable contemporary virtue ethics. Pieter Vos demonstrates that post-Reformation theological ethics still understands the good in terms of the good life, takes virtues as necessary for living the good life and considers human nature as a source of moral knowledge. Vos approaches Protestant theology as an important bridge between pre-modern virtue ethics, shaped by Aristotle and transformed by Augustine of Hippo, and late modern understandings of morality. The volume covers a range of topics, going from eudaimonism and Calvinist ethics to Reformed scholastic virtue ethics and character formation in the work of Søren Kierkegaard. The author shows how Protestantism has articulated other-centered virtues from a theology of grace, affirmed ordinary life and emphasized the need of transformation of this life and its orders. Engaging with philosophy of the art of living, Neo-Aristotelianism and exemplarist ethics, he develops constructive contributions to a contemporary virtue ethics.
Longing for the Lost Caliphate: A Transregional History
by Mona HassanIn the United States and Europe, the word "caliphate" has conjured historically romantic and increasingly pernicious associations. Yet the caliphate's significance in Islamic history and Muslim culture remains poorly understood. This book explores the myriad meanings of the caliphate for Muslims around the world through the analytical lens of two key moments of loss in the thirteenth and twentieth centuries. Through extensive primary-source research, Mona Hassan explores the rich constellation of interpretations created by religious scholars, historians, musicians, statesmen, poets, and intellectuals.Hassan fills a scholarly gap regarding Muslim reactions to the destruction of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad in 1258 and challenges the notion that the Mongol onslaught signaled an end to the critical engagement of Muslim jurists and intellectuals with the idea of an Islamic caliphate. She also situates Muslim responses to the dramatic abolition of the Ottoman caliphate in 1924 as part of a longer trajectory of transregional cultural memory, revealing commonalities and differences in how modern Muslims have creatively interpreted and reinterpreted their heritage. Hassan examines how poignant memories of the lost caliphate have been evoked in Muslim culture, law, and politics, similar to the losses and repercussions experienced by other religious communities, including the destruction of the Second Temple for Jews and the fall of Rome for Christians.A global history, Longing for the Lost Caliphate delves into why the caliphate has been so important to Muslims in vastly different eras and places.
Longing for the Lost Caliphate: A Transregional History
by Mona HassanIn the United States and Europe, the word "caliphate" has conjured historically romantic and increasingly pernicious associations. Yet the caliphate's significance in Islamic history and Muslim culture remains poorly understood. This book explores the myriad meanings of the caliphate for Muslims around the world through the analytical lens of two key moments of loss in the thirteenth and twentieth centuries. Through extensive primary-source research, Mona Hassan explores the rich constellation of interpretations created by religious scholars, historians, musicians, statesmen, poets, and intellectuals.Hassan fills a scholarly gap regarding Muslim reactions to the destruction of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad in 1258 and challenges the notion that the Mongol onslaught signaled an end to the critical engagement of Muslim jurists and intellectuals with the idea of an Islamic caliphate. She also situates Muslim responses to the dramatic abolition of the Ottoman caliphate in 1924 as part of a longer trajectory of transregional cultural memory, revealing commonalities and differences in how modern Muslims have creatively interpreted and reinterpreted their heritage. Hassan examines how poignant memories of the lost caliphate have been evoked in Muslim culture, law, and politics, similar to the losses and repercussions experienced by other religious communities, including the destruction of the Second Temple for Jews and the fall of Rome for Christians.A global history, Longing for the Lost Caliphate delves into why the caliphate has been so important to Muslims in vastly different eras and places.
Look-Alike Lawman (Texas Twins #4)
by Glynna KayeA LITTLE BOY’S HERO When big city cop Grayson Wallace visits an elementary school for career day, he finds his heartstrings unexpectedly tugged by a six-year-old fatherless boy. Gray offers to mentor the child, but widowed mother Elise Lopez wants nothing to do with men in uniform. Now he can’t get the struggling Lopezes off his mind.
A Look Back: The Birth of the Americans with Disabilities Act
by Robert C Anderson”One of my proudest moments as President occurred on July 26, 1990--the day I signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. With its passage, a shameful wall of exclusion came tumbling down. This landmark legislation was the culmination of the dedicated efforts of so many, and I salute the bipartisan leadership of the Congress--as well as the countless advocates from all parts of society who contributed to our success. It was a team effort. With the ADA, our country took a dramatic step toward eliminating the physical barriers that existed and the social barriers that were accepted. Much work lies ahead, but I am confident that we will finish the wonderful work already begun. After all, it’s the right thing to do.” --Former President George BushIn 1990, despite resistance from the business sector and state and local governments, disability groups and activists, together with responsive government leaders, succeeded in passing the most significant civil rights bill in decades. A Look Back: The Birth of the Americans with Disabilities Act takes you to the unique moment in American history when persons of many different backgrounds and with different disabilities united to press Congress for full recognition and protection of their rights as American citizens. The ADA recalls the promise of earlier civil rights legislation and advocacy. A Look Back will remind you that people are people before they are disabled and that they deserve to be acknowledged as individuals, rather than stereotyped on the basis of their physical conditions. You’ll witness this firsthand through the inspirational example the Reverend Harold Wilke has set through his own personal struggles, triumphs, and ministry. A witness to the signing of the ADA on the lawn of the White House, he played a key role as a vocal activist in the transformation of self-image for persons with disabilities and in the fight for this bill.In this book, you will see the progress that has been made since the ADA was passed and that, despite the headway made for empowering persons with disabilities, there is much to be done before all individuals are aware of their rights, responsibilities, and protection under the ADA. A Look Back contends that through public education, pastoral care, and open, sensitive congregations, bridges can be built between religion, secular society, and persons with disabilities. This will result in persons with disabilities becoming full participants in daily American life.
A Look Back: The Birth of the Americans with Disabilities Act
by Robert C Anderson”One of my proudest moments as President occurred on July 26, 1990--the day I signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. With its passage, a shameful wall of exclusion came tumbling down. This landmark legislation was the culmination of the dedicated efforts of so many, and I salute the bipartisan leadership of the Congress--as well as the countless advocates from all parts of society who contributed to our success. It was a team effort. With the ADA, our country took a dramatic step toward eliminating the physical barriers that existed and the social barriers that were accepted. Much work lies ahead, but I am confident that we will finish the wonderful work already begun. After all, it’s the right thing to do.” --Former President George BushIn 1990, despite resistance from the business sector and state and local governments, disability groups and activists, together with responsive government leaders, succeeded in passing the most significant civil rights bill in decades. A Look Back: The Birth of the Americans with Disabilities Act takes you to the unique moment in American history when persons of many different backgrounds and with different disabilities united to press Congress for full recognition and protection of their rights as American citizens. The ADA recalls the promise of earlier civil rights legislation and advocacy. A Look Back will remind you that people are people before they are disabled and that they deserve to be acknowledged as individuals, rather than stereotyped on the basis of their physical conditions. You’ll witness this firsthand through the inspirational example the Reverend Harold Wilke has set through his own personal struggles, triumphs, and ministry. A witness to the signing of the ADA on the lawn of the White House, he played a key role as a vocal activist in the transformation of self-image for persons with disabilities and in the fight for this bill.In this book, you will see the progress that has been made since the ADA was passed and that, despite the headway made for empowering persons with disabilities, there is much to be done before all individuals are aware of their rights, responsibilities, and protection under the ADA. A Look Back contends that through public education, pastoral care, and open, sensitive congregations, bridges can be built between religion, secular society, and persons with disabilities. This will result in persons with disabilities becoming full participants in daily American life.
Looking East in Winter: Contemporary Thought and the Eastern Christian Tradition
by Rowan WilliamsIn many ways, we seem to be living in wintry times at present in the Western world. In this new book, Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury and a noted scholar of Eastern Christianity, introduces us to some aspects and personalities of the Orthodox Christian world, from the desert contemplatives of the fourth century to philosophers, novelists and activists of the modern era, that suggest where we might look for fresh light and warmth. He shows how this rich and diverse world opens up new ways of thinking about spirit and body, prayer and action, worship and social transformation, which go beyond the polarisations we take for granted.Taking in the world of the great spiritual anthology, the Philokalia, and the explorations of Russian thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, discussing the witness of figures like Maria Skobtsova, murdered in a German concentration camp for her defence of Jewish refugees, and the challenging theologies of modern Greek thinkers like John Zizioulas and Christos Yannaras, Rowan Williams opens the door to a 'climate and landscape of our humanity that can indeed be warmed and transfigured'.This is an original and illuminating vision of a Christian world still none too familiar to Western believers and even to students of theology, showing how the deep-rooted themes of Eastern Christian thought can prompt new perspectives on our contemporary crises of imagination and hope.
Looking East in Winter: Contemporary Thought and the Eastern Christian Tradition
by Rowan WilliamsIn many ways, we seem to be living in wintry times at present in the Western world. In this new book, Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury and a noted scholar of Eastern Christianity, introduces us to some aspects and personalities of the Orthodox Christian world, from the desert contemplatives of the fourth century to philosophers, novelists and activists of the modern era, that suggest where we might look for fresh light and warmth. He shows how this rich and diverse world opens up new ways of thinking about spirit and body, prayer and action, worship and social transformation, which go beyond the polarisations we take for granted.Taking in the world of the great spiritual anthology, the Philokalia, and the explorations of Russian thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, discussing the witness of figures like Maria Skobtsova, murdered in a German concentration camp for her defence of Jewish refugees, and the challenging theologies of modern Greek thinkers like John Zizioulas and Christos Yannaras, Rowan Williams opens the door to a 'climate and landscape of our humanity that can indeed be warmed and transfigured'.This is an original and illuminating vision of a Christian world still none too familiar to Western believers and even to students of theology, showing how the deep-rooted themes of Eastern Christian thought can prompt new perspectives on our contemporary crises of imagination and hope.
Looking for an Enemy: 8 Essays on Antisemitism
by Jo Glanville"Like all the best meetings of Jewish minds, this book will make you think, argue and see the world anew." Hadley Freeman, author of House of GlassConspiracy theories about Jews are back in the mainstream. The Pittsburgh gunman who murdered 11 people in a synagogue claimed that 'filthy evil' Jews were bringing 'filthy evil' Muslims into America. The billionaire philanthropist George Soros has been accused of supporting 'white genocide'. Labour Party members have claimed that Israel is behind ISIS. The belief that Jews are plotting against society never dies, it just adapts to suit the times: from medieval accusations that Jews murder Christians for their blood to claims that Zionists are seeking to control the world. In eight short essays, edited by Jo Glanville, this book goes back to the source of the conspiracy theories and traces their journey into the 21st century in a bid to make sense of their survival. With contributions from some of the great Jewish writers and thinkers of our time, including Tom Segev, Jill Jacobs and Mikhail Grynberg, this is a fresh take on the roots of antisemitism that explores how an irrational belief can still flourish in a supposedly rational age.
Looking for Life: Looking For Life: The Role Of 'theo-ethical Reasoning' In Paul's Religion (The Library of New Testament Studies #291)
by John G. LewisThrough exegetical studies of 1 Corinthians and Galatians, John Lewis shows how Paul synthesises theology and ethics - which interpreters frequently separate - as integrated aspects of Christian thinking and living. This fusion becomes evident in Paul's complex process of theological, moral reasoning that lies beneath the surface of his letters for which we have coined the phrase 'theo-ethical reasoning'. The book also examines how Paul encourages his churches to apply this theo-ethical reasoning in the community practice of spiritual discernment - a dialogical, comparative process of reasoned reflection on behaviour and experience. Through this practice of looking for life, community members are led by the Spirit as they reason together, attempting to associate the manifestations of new life with conduct that faithfully portrays Christ's self-giving pattern. This correlation of conduct with experience grounds Paul's own proclamation of Jesus Christ in word and deed. It also becomes the foundation for believers' faith and hope as they come to know Christ and experience the power of God. Thus, the book concludes that the practice of spiritual discernment by means of theo-ethical reasoning lies at the centre of Paul's religion.
Looking for Mary Magdalene: Alternative Pilgrimage and Ritual Creativity at Catholic Shrines in France (Oxford Ritual Studies)
by Anna FedeleWinner of the Award for Excellence in Religion: Analytical-Descriptive Studies from the American Academy of Religion Anna Fedele offers a sensitive ethnography of alternative pilgrimages to French Catholic shrines dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene. Drawing on more than three years of fieldwork, she describes how pilgrims from Italy, Spain, Britain, and the United States interpret Catholic figures, symbols, and sites according to theories derived from the international Neopagan movement. Fedele pays particular attention to the pilgrims' life stories, rituals and reading. She examines how they devise their rituals, how anthropological literature has influenced them, and why this kind of spirituality is increasingly prevalent in the West. These pilgrims cultivate spirituality in interaction with each other and with textual sources: Jungian psychology, Goddess mythology, and "indigenous" traditions merge into a corpus of practices centered upon the worship of the Goddess and Mother Earth, and the sacralization of the reproductive cycle. Their rituals present a critique of Roman Catholicism and the medical establishment, and question contemporary discourse on gender.
Looking for Miracles (Mills And Boon Love Inspired Ser.)
by Lynn BulockLori Harper was on her own. Recently widowed with a young son to raise and a baby on the way, she had no one she could rely on. And when she went into labor in her isolated home with no way to call for help, she prayed for a miracle….
Looking for Strangers: The True Story of My Hidden Wartime Childhood
by Dori KatzDori Katz is a Jewish Holocaust survivor who thought that her lost memories of her childhood years in Belgium were irrecoverable. But after a chance viewing of a documentary about hidden children in German-occupied Belgium, she realized that she might, in fact, be able to unearth those years. Looking for Strangers is the deeply honest record of her attempt to do so, a detective story that unfolds through one of the most horrifying periods in history in an attempt to understand one’s place within it. In alternating chapters, Katz journeys into multiple pasts, setting details from her mother’s stories that have captivated her throughout her life alongside an account of her own return to Belgium forty years later—against her mother’s urgings—in search of greater clarity. She reconnects her sharp but fragmented memories: being sent by her mother in 1943, at the age of three, to live with a Catholic family under a Christian identity; then being given up, inexplicably, to an orphanage in the years immediately following the war. Only after that, amid postwar confusion, was she able to reconnect with her mother. Following this trail through Belgium to her past places of hiding, Katz eventually finds herself in San Francisco, speaking with a man who claimed to have known her father in Auschwitz—and thus known his end. Weighing many other stories from the people she meets along her way—all of whom seem to hold something back—she attempts to stitch thread after thread into a unified truth, to understand the countless motivations and circumstances that determined her remarkable life. A story at once about self-discovery, the transformation of memory, a fraught mother-daughter relationship, and the oppression of millions, Looking for Strangers is a book of both historical insight and imaginative grasp. It is a book in which the past, through its very mystery, becomes alive, immediate—of the most urgent importance.
Looking for Strangers: The True Story of My Hidden Wartime Childhood
by Dori KatzDori Katz is a Jewish Holocaust survivor who thought that her lost memories of her childhood years in Belgium were irrecoverable. But after a chance viewing of a documentary about hidden children in German-occupied Belgium, she realized that she might, in fact, be able to unearth those years. Looking for Strangers is the deeply honest record of her attempt to do so, a detective story that unfolds through one of the most horrifying periods in history in an attempt to understand one’s place within it. In alternating chapters, Katz journeys into multiple pasts, setting details from her mother’s stories that have captivated her throughout her life alongside an account of her own return to Belgium forty years later—against her mother’s urgings—in search of greater clarity. She reconnects her sharp but fragmented memories: being sent by her mother in 1943, at the age of three, to live with a Catholic family under a Christian identity; then being given up, inexplicably, to an orphanage in the years immediately following the war. Only after that, amid postwar confusion, was she able to reconnect with her mother. Following this trail through Belgium to her past places of hiding, Katz eventually finds herself in San Francisco, speaking with a man who claimed to have known her father in Auschwitz—and thus known his end. Weighing many other stories from the people she meets along her way—all of whom seem to hold something back—she attempts to stitch thread after thread into a unified truth, to understand the countless motivations and circumstances that determined her remarkable life. A story at once about self-discovery, the transformation of memory, a fraught mother-daughter relationship, and the oppression of millions, Looking for Strangers is a book of both historical insight and imaginative grasp. It is a book in which the past, through its very mystery, becomes alive, immediate—of the most urgent importance.
Looking for Strangers: The True Story of My Hidden Wartime Childhood
by Dori KatzDori Katz is a Jewish Holocaust survivor who thought that her lost memories of her childhood years in Belgium were irrecoverable. But after a chance viewing of a documentary about hidden children in German-occupied Belgium, she realized that she might, in fact, be able to unearth those years. Looking for Strangers is the deeply honest record of her attempt to do so, a detective story that unfolds through one of the most horrifying periods in history in an attempt to understand one’s place within it. In alternating chapters, Katz journeys into multiple pasts, setting details from her mother’s stories that have captivated her throughout her life alongside an account of her own return to Belgium forty years later—against her mother’s urgings—in search of greater clarity. She reconnects her sharp but fragmented memories: being sent by her mother in 1943, at the age of three, to live with a Catholic family under a Christian identity; then being given up, inexplicably, to an orphanage in the years immediately following the war. Only after that, amid postwar confusion, was she able to reconnect with her mother. Following this trail through Belgium to her past places of hiding, Katz eventually finds herself in San Francisco, speaking with a man who claimed to have known her father in Auschwitz—and thus known his end. Weighing many other stories from the people she meets along her way—all of whom seem to hold something back—she attempts to stitch thread after thread into a unified truth, to understand the countless motivations and circumstances that determined her remarkable life. A story at once about self-discovery, the transformation of memory, a fraught mother-daughter relationship, and the oppression of millions, Looking for Strangers is a book of both historical insight and imaginative grasp. It is a book in which the past, through its very mystery, becomes alive, immediate—of the most urgent importance.