End-of-Life Books

I have always enjoyed the adult series of Left Behind books. The kids books are just as good. The kids interact with the characters from the adult series, experience the same events, etc. However, since the main characters are teens, these books can appeal to younger readers. So far, the stories haven't had the ups and downs that the adult series has had. The adult series has books that are a lot more boring than others. The kids series seems to be good in every book. These are not for really young kids, but would be appropriate for young teens. I enjoy them and I am an adult.

This really helped us get through some rough times. So much worry about the future is needless with hospice care and the advice in this book really is right on. Thanks

Steve Gallagher lovingly takes off his gloves in this book, and he's paid the price to do it. Based on the book of Revelation, he explores the churches in the early part of the Book of Revelation and compares them to our modern time. Other authors have made efforts to do the same, but Steve speaks from a different venue.

You shouldn't be put off by the title of the book - Breaking Free from the Lusts of this World - because he doesn't just speak of lust from a sexual addiction perspective. He examines, in light of Scripture the many lusts - the eyes, the heart, the mind, the culture, and anything which might usurp God's authority in our lives.

This book still has me under conviction, and if it's put in enough hands of "true" Christians, I believe we will see a genuine change come to the Church of Jesus Christ. The real measure, however, is Steve's belief that those who call themselves Christian are heading towards a "trying time," and only those who are ready for the return of the Lord and are living their lives in obedience to His Spirit will be spared.

Highly recommended to read over and over again!!!

I have always enjoyed the adult series of Left Behind books. The kids books are just as good. The kids interact with the characters from the adult series, experience the same events, etc. However, since the main characters are teens, these books can appeal to younger readers. So far, the stories haven't had the ups and downs that the adult series has had. The adult series has books that are a lot more boring than others. The kids series seems to be good in every book. These are not for really young kids, but would be appropriate for young teens. I enjoy them and I am an adult.

Just before the funeral for Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, Francisco Coloane walked up to the open coffin and buttoned his deceased compatriot's shirt. Such an attention to the details of human existence flow through Dave Petreman's translation of Coloane's short stories, "Cape Horn and Other Stories from the End of the World."

Coloane, a respected and award-winning writer in Chile whose works have been published around the world in Spanish and other languages, is introduced to a greater American readership in this collection of sixteen intense and thoughtful short stories. Petreman's translation pays homage to the language of the original stories and manages to cross the barriers that face any translator of prose and poetry.

Coloane's stories describe a world of the essentially human. He introduces us in "Cape Horn," for example, to people "whose hearts were nothing more than another clenched fist" and shows how the natural world inhabited by such people has its own way of imposing an unmerciful justice on them. The recurring theme in Latin American literature that poses commonality of civilization and barbarity forms the basis for "Gulf of Sorrows," where a small boat filled with struggling sailors prefers to head on against the storm rather than face being declared shipwrecked. In the story "Bottle of Caña" Coloane introduces the reader to the inner lives of two characters who meet and share for a while a path through the cold patagonian tundra. One of the characters is headed home to get married. The other remembers how, on the same trail a year earlier, he had killed another man just like this momentary companion. The innocent future of one man is juxtaposed with the violent past of the other, with the reader discovering in the story how closely each of us lives blissfully unaware of the violence hiding in the deepest recesses of the human heart.

It is just these collocations of opposites that make Coloane's stories so gripping and unstoppable. The fire of life and the iceberg cold of hidden death, control and violence, obstinacy and honor, plunder and compassion are part of every one of these stories. Coloane's perception of the essential relationship between the world of man and the world of nature makes each of these confrontations more than just one in another in a collection of stories. The stories present human nature as natural, the anima of compulsion and unexpected submission behind our sense of human importance.

David Petreman, associate professor of Spanish language & Latin American literature at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, translated these stories from other collections of Coloane's work previously published in Chile. Petreman, who specializes in Chilean literature, is a long-time friend of Coloane, a relationship that is evident in the careful rewriting of these stories for another hemisphere.

The stories in this book reveal a world seldom seen by English-speaking readers. This is a world of grand vistas, foot-worn trails and the encroachment of a so-called civilization. If you are searching for a world left unexplored by American literature or those who read and write it, "Cape Horn and Other Stories from the End of the World" is an excellent starting point.

Editors Kathleen Foley and Herbert Hendin note in their preface to The Case Against Assisted Suicide that much of the dialogue on physician-assisted suicide (PAS) involved one side invoking religious principles against assisted suicide, while the other proponents of PAS invoked feelings compassion and talk about autonomy. This book is a welcome change to that deadlock by investigating in non-sectarian language the very problematic nature of physician-assisted suicide. Even better, the primary contributions are from physicians in end-of-life care or disability advocates and hospice workers, giving the reader an intimate view of the realities of end-of-life care.

The book is divided into four sections:

The first section has an impressive line-up. Bioethicist Dan Callahan's essay on compassion and its limits undercuts some of the strongest arguments that PAS proponents make. He is joined by Yale Kamisar's legal critique of PAS, and also an essay on the patient-doctor relationship by Leon Kass, the head of the Presidential Committee of Bioethics.

The second section is the most disturbing as it examines the reality of physician assisted suicide in Oregon, the Netherlands, and during a period of time in the Northwest Territory of Australia. Every essay is written by one or two physicians who practice medicine in the country or state affected by assisted suicide. Running as a theme through all these accounts is the silence surrounding suicides, the squelching of meaningful discussion of suicide alternatives, and the lack of any real oversight.

Upon reading the second section, a PAS proponent may retort, "oh fine, the Dutch and the Oregonians have messed it up, so we'll just improve it in the future." The third part of the book, however, has several articles that show that the problems in Oregon and elsewhere are symptomatic of inherent vulnerabilities in the disabled population. Diane Coleman, a disabled lawyer and founder of the disability organization Not Dead Yet, has a particularly good piece on the struggles of the disabled in America to obtain proper care and the threats posed to them by institutionalized suicide.

The fourth section has a brief history on the first modern hospice in London, and how its mission has involved, often from the experiences of their first patients. The last piece is by editor Kathleen Foley, who summarizes some of the current American initiatives on improving end of life care, and also how both physicians' and the public's views on death and its psychology have evolved, and where they need to improve.

The Case Against Assisted Suicide is a well-organized volume that brings together a very complicated issue and develops a powerful argument for how we need to practice medicine and care for some of society's most vulnerable members.

At first glance it would seem that THE CASE OF TERRI SCHIAVO: ETHICS AT THE END OF LIFE is another focus on her case alone - but actually its focus on end-of-life ethical questions holds far more meaning for the living than for the dead of the past. The ethical dilemmas surrounding end of life are many - and are surveyed in depth in a coverage which uses not just Terri's case but similar cases to expose issues, struggles and obstacles to quality of life and survival. Essays cover everything from legal issues and points to ethical concerns.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

In the year 2004 the great Saint Anthony's Messenger Press based in Cincinnati published these six things we Catholics MUST do to end the immoral state homicide which the USA uniquely permits itself without reason and against justice.

This substantial pamphlet bears the Nihil Obstat of Franciscan Father Donald Miller, the Imprimi potest of Franciscan Provincial Father Fred Link and the Imprimatur of the Archbishop of Cincinnati the Most Reverend Carl Moeddel, VG. Reflecting current orthodox Roman Catholic moral theology as also summarized in the Compendium, etc., this excellent resource was compiled by Robert H. Hopcke, and includes resources such as other books like the powerful and well-known statement by Antoinette Bosco Choosing Mercy: A Mother of Murder Victims Pleads to End the Death Penalty and Sister Helen Prejean's famous Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States. SImilar hard copy resources are followed by links to various internet resources which this current format's guidelines do not permit us to directly quote and link, but which includes the Respect Life Organization, Catholics against Capital Punishment, the Community of Sant'Egidio and the United States Conference of CAtholic Bishops, in particular their famous and well-respected Good Friday statement, as well as "Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration."

The six steps include Prayer, Reading and Writing. Please begin by reading this very accessible pamphlet courageously provided by the great Saint Anthony's Press, and pass it out at your parish, including to new members, and especially to your state legislators and government, who might not realize that another urgent Catholic Right to Life issue includes the abolition of the death sentence.

It is a shame for our nation to stand nearly alone in this barbaric and fruitless pratice which merely increases violence and death without building the peace and stability of our society. The rest of the world can only shake their head in wonder, while Jesus weeps once more.

Paul Hessert brilliantly disects the Christian life and separates Christian thinking from the infiltration of secular and religious thought which owes more to the greeks than Christ. Hessert opens up the new testament (and old) in way that leaves you with nothing except trust in God through Christ crucified. A wonderfull exposition on the the Gospel, the real message, and how Paul and the Writers of the new testament try to show the message of Christ crucuified as the Good news ,as a stumbling block to those seeking signs and as foolishness to those seeking wisdom. Starting with Corinthians and moving through Mark and the other Gospel writers and on to the rest of the new testament, Hessert Brilliantly captures the life of the Christian and how we are "in the world but not of the world"

I really believe that Hessert's look at our modern Western world and its related and misguided views of God (both secular and Christian) is outstanding, origional and true to the Gospel. I did find that Hessert can be difficult to read at times often using complicated grammar and long and convoluted sentences. I do believe that the thinking and insights revealed in this book are worth the effort of the read.

I would recommend this book highly to those who will accept a challenge and don't mind being changed in their thinking, because Hessert leaves no Holy Cow alone. This is a tough one, read it with a friend to allow open debate and comment and help with tough thoughts, but well worth the read and highly recomended. This will be a good read for serious studiers of God's word and normal folk like myself, but be warned Hessert won't leave you alone and will seriously challenge you.

As many readers know, Francis and his wife Edith ran a community in the Swiss/ French Alps called L'Abri, which means "The Shelter." The title of this book makes it seem out of date and passe at the beginning of the twenty first century, but in my opinion it's not only Schaeffer's best book (vying with strong contenders like True Spirituality for that title) but also his most prophetic.

This book already includes as an appendix the full text of "The Mark of the Christian" and a second appendix, "Adultery and Apostasy: The Bride and Bridegroom Theme", which alone is worth the price of the book, but this edition includes a second book, The Church Before the Watching World.

Schaeffer views himself as an heir and defender of the Reformation tradition, which could mean many things. What it does mean in his best known works, especially How Should We Then Live? is that he comes off as anti-Catholic--unfairly so almost DaVinci code so. This is exasperated in the video series accompanying the book which was filmed by his son, Franky Schaeffer, who himself later became Eastern Orthodox. But that caveat is no reason to stay away from his books, especially this one, for Schaeffer is the most engaging thinker from this tradition (except maybe John Stott) to come down the pike in a long time.

On the other hand, he's dismissed out of hand by other critics. Numerous readers have pointed out the bits he gets wrong, like blaming St. Thomas Aquinas for introducing the split between nature and grace in Escape from Reason, when a much more obvious candidate would be Descartes. But again, this is no reason to miss a unique and literate thinker whose clear and casual style will leave many readers challenged and enchanted.