|
Return to
Featured Books and Films
Books
Nonfiction
Love
101 Things I Wish I Knew
Before I Got Married: Simple Lessons to Make Love
Last by Linda and Charlie Bloom contains wise
words on sustaining this relationship from two
psychotherapists with more than 55 years of combined
experience in relationship counseling.
The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm guides you in
developing your capacity for love in all its
aspects—romantic love, love of parents for children,
brotherly love, erotic love, self-love, and love of God.
The Book of Love by Daphne Rose Kingma explores the
emotional and spiritual components of loving
relationships in a series of brief essays.
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for
Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by
Elizabeth Gilbert is a spiritual memoir and travel
diary that takes the reader from the gustatory and
sensual delights of Italy to the discipline and
spiritual focus of an Indian ashram and finally, to
an artist’s enclave in Bali where Gilbert seeks to
find balance between the two extremes. The Fabulous Friendship Festival: Loving
Wildly, Learning Deeply, Living Fully with Our
Friends by the artist Sark is a charming and
frolicsome book with hand-written text surrounded by
colored paintings and delightful drawings. It
suggests projects to explore the joys of creativity
and friendship with sections on celebrations,
challenges, and integration. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is an
award-winning novel about an elderly Congregational
minister who is compiling the values and memories he
wants to pass on to his seven-year-old son. He talks
openly about all the ways love has stretched,
sheltered, and inspired him over the years. The
Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls is a
story of triumph against all odds, but also a tale
of unconditional love in a family that despite its
profound flaws gave Walls the fiery determination to
carve out a successful life on her own terms.
Heart: A Personal Journey through Its Myths and
Meanings by Gail Godwin takes us on a royal tour
of ideas, stories, and anecdotes about the heart,
which is usually seen as a stand-in for love. She
covers the varied roles the heart has played in
literature, myth, religion, philosophy, medicine,
and the fine arts. Into the Tangle of Friendship: A Memoir of the
Things That Matter by Beth Kephart probes the
give and take of friendship and our feelings about
it from childhood on. In beautiful language, the
author recounts the sweet surprises of the
friendships in her own life, asserting, "Because all
friendships are finally mirrors, they provide proof
that we do exist."
Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal by
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, is a collection of true
stories that draw on the concept of “kitchen table
wisdom”—the human tradition of shared experience
that shows us life in all its power and mystery and
reminds us that the things we cannot measure may be
the things that ultimately sustain and enrich our
lives. A Little Book for Lovers by
Georg Feuerstein links mystery and compassion to the
essence of love. Mama, Do You Love
Me? by Barbara M. Joose, an award-winning
children's picture book, is now available in a 19th
Anniversary Commemorative Edition. A little Inuit
girl wants to know how much her mother loves her and
for how long and whether she will love her even if
she is bad. The mother's answers reveal that her
love is unconditional and everlasting. The
Maytrees by Annie Dillard is a beautifully
written novel that probes the mysteries of love and
marriage in the lives of a Cape Cod couple. Rumi: The Book of Love:
Poems of Ecstasy and Longing is a collection of
poems by the thirteenth century Sufi mystic.
Translator Coleman Barks explains the theme of the
book: “All the particles of the world are in love
and looking for lovers…. We're here to love each
other, to deepen and unfold that capacity, to open
the heart.”
The Spirit of Intimacy: Ancient Teachings in
the Ways of Relationships by Sobonfu Some is a
cross-cultural masterpiece filled with practical
ideas about restoring meaning and purpose to
marriage and family. Some was born and raised in a
West African village of 200 people where she learned
rituals of renewal and cleansing necessary to
nourish a marriage. Ten Poems to Open Your
Heart by Roger Housden comments on the multiple
meanings of love as presented in poems by Mary
Oliver, Sharon Olds, Galway Kinnell, Wislawa
Szymborska, Czeslaw Milosz, Naomi Shihab Nye, Denise
Levertov, Pablo Neruda, Robert Bly, and Rumi. Unconditional Love - An Unlimited Way of Being
by Harold Becker illustrates how unconditional love
operates at every level of life. Simply defined as
an unlimited way of being, he clearly demonstrates
how this insight weaves through all facets of our
being including our physical, emotional, mental, and
spiritual bodies. We Pledge Our Hearts: A
Treasury of Poems, Quotations and Readings to
Celebrate Love and Marriage by Edward Searl is a
diverse collection of poems, quotations, and
readings on love and marriage. It covers falling in
love through love in the silver years and every
stage in between. Why Good Things Happen to Good People by
Stephen Post, PhD, and Jill Neimark explores how the
impact of giving reverberates across an entire
lifetime, nourishing health and happiness in
astonishing ways. The book weaves new science with
profoundly moving real-life stories. The Wisdom of Love by Jacob Needleman draws
wisdom from myth, religion, philosophy, and sacred
poetry in an exploration of that which brings two people
together in love—of what love is, why we need to give it
and receive it, and how it can be sustained beyond the
passion and mystery that first draws us together.
Forgiveness
A Year to Live by Stephen Levine, a grief
counselor, recounts his experiences after he decided
to live one year as if it were his last. He
discovers that doing forgiveness meditations is one
way to “sharpen life and soften death.” Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended
Tragedy by Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt,
and David L. Weaver-Zercher explores the Amish
response to the October 2006 murder and wounding of
10 girls. Before the sun had set on that awful
October day members of the Amish community brought
words of forgiveness to the family of the one who
had slain their children. Amish Grace explores the
many questions this story raises about the religious
beliefs and habits that led the Amish to forgive so
quickly.
The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace
by Jack Kornfield, a clinical psychologist and
Buddhist monk, is an exceptionally fine collection
of quotations, teaching stories, and spiritual
practices on these virtues. He sees both love and
forgiveness as growing out of openness to others and
all experiences.
Becoming the Kind Father: A Son’s Journey
by Calvin Sandborn intersperses literary
references with painful childhood memories, intense
self-examination, and astute observations with
well-researched psychological findings and self-help
tips for men who want to become kinder human beings.
The
Bridge to Forgiveness: Stories and Prayers for
Finding God and Restoring Wholeness by Rabbi
Karyn D. Kedar uses stories, prayers, and poems to
shed light on the process of forgiveness through
loss, anger, acceptance, learning, and restoration.
She calls forgiveness a shift of perspective, a new
way of seeing the world, and a different way of
experiencing the inner life.
Calm Surrender: Walking the Path of
Forgiveness by Kent Nerburn, one of America's
finest essayists, is full of accounts of real people
facing steep challenges. With his natural,
down-to-earth style, Nerburn writes about forgiving
ourselves, dealing with small slights, handling the
limitations in our lives, and letting anger and rage
go with “a gentle almost invisible touch.”
Comes the Peace: My Journey to Forgiveness by
Daja Wangchuk Meston chronicles Daja's unusual life.
When he was a toddler, his American mother decided
to become a Buddhist nun and placed him in the care
a Nepalese family living in Katmandu until he was
six, when his mother arranged for him to become a
Buddhist monk. He stayed at the monastery until
American relatives helped him come to the US as a
teenager. Despite his abandonment by his mother and
his father, who is mentally ill, he is able, with
time, to understand and forgive his parents. Finding Forgiveness: A 7-Step Program for
Letting Go of Anger and Bitterness by Eileen R.
Borris-Dunchunstang, Ed.D. offers a step-by-step
forgiveness program to learn how to forgive and heal
emotional pain. It lays out the framework that
underlies our thinking and inhibits us from being
able to forgive and shows us how to transform our
thinking so that we can forgive and be more
compassionate and loving human beings. Forgive
and Forget: Healing the Hurts You Never Deserved
by Lewis Smedes shows that it is possible to heal
our pain and find room in our hearts to forgive by
breaking down the process of healing into four
stages and offering stories of real people's
experience throughout.
Forgive for Good: A
Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness by
Dr. Fred Luskin is based on scientific research from
psychology and medicine. It offers new insight into
the healing powers and medical benefits of
forgiveness and provides a proven nine-step
forgiveness method that makes it possible to move
beyond being a victim to a life of improved health
and contentment.
A Forgiving Heart: Prayers for Blessing and
Reconciliation by Lynn Klug is a collection of
soulful quotations, prayers, and other
encouragements about forgiving God, forgiving
others, and forgiving ourselves. There are also
sections on loving our enemies, healing the broken,
and living as one nation.
Forgiveness is a Choice: A Step-by-Step Process
for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope by Robert
Enright, creator of the first scientifically proven
forgiveness program in the country, shows how
forgiveness can reduce anxiety and depression and
increase self-esteem and hopefulness. This book
demonstrates how forgiveness, approached in the
correct manner, benefits the forgiver far more than
the forgiven.
Forgiveness: The Greatest Healer of All by
Gerald G. Jampolsky, founder of the Center for
Attitudinal Healing, discusses how forgiveness heals
both on a physical (improving immune systems) and a
mental level by freeing us from the imprisoning past
and from our own self-judgments. Jampolsky presents
20 reasons why we don't forgive and then proposes
some stepping stones to this practice.
Heart of Forgiveness: A Practical Path to Healing
by Madeline Ko-I Bastis, the first ordained Buddhist
priest to be certified as a hospital chaplain
discovered that for many patients, nothing is as
difficult as forgiveness. Each chapter includes
healing stories about this difficult practice, a
meditation, guided imagery, and other relevant
exercises.
How Can I Forgive You? The Courage to Forgive,
The Freedom Not To by Janis Abrahms Spring, a
therapist, outlines four approaches to forgiveness:
(1) cheap forgiveness, an inauthentic act of
peacekeeping that resolves nothing; (2) refusing to
forgive, a rigid response that keeps one entombed in
hate; (3) acceptance, which asks nothing of the
offender; and (4) genuine forgiveness, a healing
transaction.
How Good Do We Have to Be? A New
Understanding of Guilt and Forgiveness by Rabbi
Harold Kushner (When Bad Things Happen to Good
People) presents the Judeo-Christian understanding
that God's forgiveness enables us to accept our own
flaws and the flaws of others.
A Little Book of Forgiveness: Challenges and
Meditations for Anyone with Something to Forgive
by D. Patrick Miller, a widely published writer on
contemporary spirituality and the exploration of
consciousness, explores forgiving others, forgiving
yourself, and where forgiveness leads. He sees
forgiveness as a way of letting go of the past, of
settling accounts, of doing good, and of moving into
the future with hope.
No Future Without Forgiveness by Nobel Peace
Laureate Desmond Tutu who chaired South Africa's
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The TRC
operated under the umbrella of restorative rather
than retributive justice: victims of human rights
violations were given a chance to tell their stories
and those who confessed their crimes were given
amnesty. The result was a national effort at
forgiveness and reconciliation Forgiveness.
Not By the Sword: How a Cantor and His Family
Transformed a Klansman by Kathryn Watterson
recounts Larry Trapp's life as a racist, his
startling transformation in response to Cantor
Weisser and his family’s kindness, and his
subsequent crusade to redeem his past by apologizing
to his victims and speaking out publicly against
racism and bigotry.
The Power of Apology by Beverly Engel
draws on real-life stories—including accounts from
her own life—to demonstrate the transformative power
of apology. Readers will learn how to overcome the
inability to acknowledge errors, how to give
meaningful apologies, how to ask for apologies and
how to receive and accept apologies and move closer
to forgiveness.
Fiction
Love
Digging to America by Anne
Tyler is a novel about the friendship of two very
different American couples adopting Korean
daughters.
Love by Toni Morrison explores the nature of
love―its appetite, its sublime possession, its
dread―through characters, striking scenes, and an
understanding of how alive the past can be.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia
Marquez is a turn-of-the-century chronicle of a unique
love triangle. Dr. Juvenal Urbino and his stately wife
Fermina Daza are in the autumn of their marriage as the
drama opens on the suicide of the doctor's chess
partner. Jeremiah de Saint-Amour, a disabled
photographer, chooses death over the indignities of old
age, revealing in a letter, a clandestine love affair.
The
Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a
touching and imaginative novel about the healing and
transforming power of love. A young white runaway is
taken in by three black beekeepers who are devoted
to the Black Madonna.
For a more comprehensive list of books
on love, visit
The Mystery of Love.
Films
Love
A Beautiful Mind 2001 - John Forbes Nash Jr.
(Russell Crowe) was a brilliant economist―when his mind
was clear. But life changed forever with the revelation
that he was a schizophrenic. Nash's genius persisted
amidst the anguish his mental illness caused for him and
his wife (Jennifer Connolly), and 40 years after his
diagnosis, he won the Nobel Prize for economics.
The Best Intentions 1992 - This film has a
screenplay by Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman about
his own parents' troubled but steadfast
relationship. As a young couple deal with the effect
on their marriage of pride, class, and battles for
control, they discover that forgiveness is love's
daring response to the hurts and disappointments of
life.
Children of Heaven 1999 - An Iranian movie
about a boy who accidentally loses his sister's shoes
and must share his own sneakers with her in a sort of
relay as each attends school at different times during
the day. Finally, the boy enters a much-publicized foot
race, hoping to place third. The prize: a new pair of
sneakers.
Emmanuel’s Gift 2005 - Narrated
by Oprah Winfrey, the film chronicles the life of
Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, a young Ghanaian man born with a
severely deformed right leg, who today, against
incalculable odds, is opening minds, hearts and doors
and effecting social and political change throughout his
country.
Evening 2007 - Vanessa Redgrave stars in
this psychologically rich drama dealing with the
matters of the heart people face as they swing from
the ardor of first love to the peace of a last
breath: yearning, memory, mistakes, regret, and the
healing power of friendship.
Gloomy Sunday 2000 – Set in Budapest
during the Holocaust, this German/Hungarian film is
about a woman who works in a restaurant where she
loves the owner and the pianist who composes Gloomy
Sunday.
Hotel Rwanda 2004 - This film tells the
true story of an African hotel manager who gave
sanctuary to both neighbors and strangers during the
1994 genocide in his country. Repeatedly, he risked
his own life and the lives of his loved ones as he
acted out of compassion and caring for the larger
community.
In My Country 2005 - The Afrikaans poet
Antjie Krog was asked to report for radio her
reactions to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation
Commission's hearings. This drama is inspired by her
book about this experience. It depicts the effect of
the testimony upon her and an African-American
reporter from the United States. They represent
different views on this experiment in reconciliation
and forgiveness.
Iris 2001 - This is an intimate and
poignant portrait of the unconventional love and
marriage of philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch
and her literary critic husband John Bayley from
their first encounter in the 1950s until her death
of Alzheimer's disease in 1999.
It’s A Wonderful Life 1947 – An
angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated
businessman by showing what life would have been like
had he never existed.
Like Water for Chocolate 1993 –
This film follows Tita and Pedro as they navigate
forbidden love. To remain close to Tita, Pedro
marries her sister. As the family cook, Tita
channels her passion for Pedro into culinary
delights.
Little Miss Sunshine 2006 — This funny
Academy Award-nominated film is about a lovable
dysfunctional family that is thrown together on a
road trip during which they must deal with each
other and innumerable setbacks. They discover that
in moments of failure the family is more than enough
to carry them through.
The Namesake 2007
- Based on the bestselling novel by Jhumpa Lahiri
and directed by Mira Nair, this film focuses on a
Bengali family and their experiences in Calcutta and
Manhattan as they deal with divided loyalties
tradition and culture, opting eventually for the
treasure of familial love.
Nobody's Fool 1994 — Paul Newman stars as
a crusty, cantankerous handyman in a small town who
discovers what it means to have a family when his
estranged son and grandchild come for a visit. He
already knows about friendship, standing by his
landlady, his boss's wife, and several others when
they need him
The Notebook 2005 - Two teenagers from
opposite sides of the tracks fall in love during one
summer together, but are tragically forced apart.
When they reunite seven years later, their
passionate romance is rekindled, forcing one of them
to choose between true love and class order.
Pay It Forward 2000 - Young Trevor McKinney
(Haley Joel Osment) responds to an assignment from his
teacher (Kevin Spacey) with a plan to help three people
… who will help three more, and so on, in an
ever-widening circle. Trevor touches more people than he
expected: his abused mother Arlene (Helen Hunt), his
physically and emotionally scarred teacher, and a
journalist who hears of the plan and starts
investigating.
Pride and Prejudice 2005 —
Directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley,
this film is an enchanting screen adaptation of Jane
Austen's classic novel about romantic misjudgments
and mishaps. Bride and Prejudice, directed by
Gurinder Chadha and starring Aishwarya Rai, is a
Bollywood version of the same story set in
contemporary India.
The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio
2005 - With
ten children to feed, postwar Ohio housewife Evelyn Ryan
(Julianne Moore) has gotten used to being resourceful,
stretching her husband's meager salary to the limit. But
when clipping coupons won't cut it, she's forced to rely
on her creativity and enters a jingle-writing contest
for extra income. Woody Harrelson and Laura Dern co-star
in this comedy-drama based on a heartwarming memoir by
Ryan's son, Terry.
A Song for Martin 2002 - This
Swedish film is about a married couple's adventures in
love late in life when even the tragedy of Alzheimer's
becomes an opportunity to deepen their relationship.
Spider-Man 3 2007
- The third film in this pop culture franchise
based on the comic book character is a stirring
morality play about the importance of choices in our
lives, especially in regard to love, friendship,
power, and forgiveness.by Annie Dillard is a
beautifully written novel that probes the mysteries
of love and marriage in the lives of a Cape Cod
couple.
Sunshine State 2002 – This film explores that
special love we have for family, community, and the
place that serves as our little corner of the universe.
An Unfinished Life 2005 - This family drama
offers a sensitive treatment of the slow and often
difficult process of forgiveness after years of
hurt, anger, and disappointment. The three main
characters, a rancher, his daughter-in-law, and his
ranch hand, have been deeply wounded by events in
the past, and they must come to terms with their
volatile emotions before they can forgive.
Volver 2006 - Three generations
of women survive the east wind, fire, insanity,
superstition and even death by means of goodness, lies
and boundless vitality.
Whale Rider 2003 - A Maori tribe must contend
with the distinctly non-traditional concept of having a
female leader when young Pai's (Keisha Castle-Hughes)
twin brother―the intended heir to the throne―dies during
childbirth. Now, she must struggle to prove herself.
You Can Count on Me 2000 - This family
drama explores the mysterious dynamics of love
between siblings who are very different from each
other. It reveals that even difficult sibling
relationships can be rewarding once they're seen as
complex, vulnerable, and edifying.
Forgiveness
Anyone and Everyone 2007 – In this
documentary, filled with stories of family love and
forgiveness, parents from various cultural and
religious backgrounds, such as Japanese, Mormon,
Bolivian, Catholic and Cherokee, share intimate
accounts of how their children revealed that they're
gay or lesbian and discuss their responses. They
also talk about struggling with the pain their sons
and daughters have dealt with because they are gay.
(Airing on public television stations. Check local
listings) Bone to Pick: Of Forgiveness, Reconciliation,
Reparation, and Revenge by Ellis Cose, a
Newsweek editor, offers a provocative and
wide-ranging discussion of the power of
reconciliation, the efficacy of revenge, and the
possibility of forgiveness. Cry, the Beloved Country 1995 -
Based on Alan Paton's classic 1948 novel set in
South Africa is a portrait of two anguished fathers
and their refusal to despair in the face of terrible
grief. For them, forgiveness forges a path toward
reconciliation. Although this drama speaks out
forcefully against apartheid and in favor of human
rights, its real thrust is on a more intimate level
of personal transformation.
Dead Man Walking 1995 - This powerful film
is based on Sister Helen Prejean's book about her
work as a spiritual advisor to a man scheduled to be
executed for killing two teenagers. Sister Helen
(Susan Sarandon in an Academy Award-winning
performance) helps him take responsibility for his
acts and to seek forgiveness; she models the path of
compassion rather than vengeance. Forgiving Dr.
Mengele 2007 - This thought-provoking
documentary is about the difficulty people have with
forgiveness. Eva Kor, now a real estate broker in
Terre Haute, Indiana, and her twin sister survived
nearly a year of the infamous medical experiments
conducted by the Nazi geneticist Josef Mengele at
Auschwitz. After her sister died in 1993, Eva
traveled to Bavaria to meet a Nazi physician; at a
public gathering, she declared her forgiveness of
him and all Nazis, including Dr. Mengele. But her
idea of self-healing through forgiveness is viewed
as inappropriate by many other Holocaust survivors.
Free of Charge:
Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace
by Miroslav Volf, the Henry B. Wright Professor of
Theology at Yale Divinity School and Director of the
Yale Center for Faith & Culture, explores where we
can find the motivation to give and how we learn to
forgive in light of God’s generosity and Christ’s
sacrifice for us. Les Miserables 1998 -
Based on the classic French novel by Victor Hugo,
Les Miserables vividly illustrates the redemptive
power of forgiveness and the destructive
consequences of self-hate. Recently released from
prison, Valjean steals some silverware from a
bishop, who promptly forgives him. This act turns
the ex-con's life around. Levity 2003 - This poignant drama centers
around a paroled murderer’s quest to help the sister
of a boy he killed years earlier. He has very little
patience for religion or for God, yet he has an
intuitive sense of one of the imperatives of
restorative justice: criminals who have taken a life
must do something to make amends to those who have
suffered because of them. Regret to Inform 1998 - Twenty years after
her husband was killed in Vietnam, Barbara Sonneborn
embarked on a journey through the country where he
fought and died. Woven into her personal odyssey are
interviews with American and Vietnamese widows from
both sides of the conflict who speak openly about
the men they loved and how war changed their lives
forever. The Straight Story 1999 – This film
reveals how the desire to forgive and be forgiven
acts as a source of energy. Alvin Straight is 73; he
has two bad hips, congested lungs, and poor
eyesight. When he hears his brother Lyle has
suffered a stroke, he decides to go visit him; the
brothers have been estranged for ten years. Since
Alvin doesn't have a driver's license anymore, the
only available mode of transportation for his
pilgrimage across Iowa and up into Wisconsin is his
motorized lawnmower. The Son 2003 - This drama was Belgium's
submission for the Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award. A carpentry teacher has a close
encounter with his need for revenge when he meets
the adolescent who murdered his young son five years
earlier. Filmed in an austere way with a hand-held
camera, this is a touching story of the moral
imagination that ends with a surprising grace note
that defies precise measurement.
A Thousand Acres 1997 - Jocelyn Moorhouse
directed this screen version of Jane Smiley's
Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Considered to parallel
Shakespeare's King Lear, the story, set on an Iowa
farm, is an intimate and riveting portrait of
sibling rivalry, forgiveness, and love.
|
