Now, in Meditations from Conversations with God, Walsch shares the special selections from Conversations which have been the most helpful, most meaningful, and most inspiring to him. He invites readers to open this book each morning and embrace each day’s thought. Meditate on its meaning. Then seek to bring that meaning into their lives.

“At the close of each day, open this book again, turning to the page with which you began your morning. Read once more the words for the day,” writes Walsch. “Take a moment to reflect on the hours just past, and the new context within which the words may be considered . . . write in your journal what has come to you from this process. In this way you can use the daily meditations here to begin your own conversation with God.”

Troubled Journey explores the nature of illnesses such as schizophrenia, major depression, and manic depression, while providing the tools to overcome the devastating effects of growing up in a family where they exist. Readers are led through the essential stages of recovery, from revisiting childhood to revising their family legacy, and ultimately to reclaiming their lives.

Troubled Journey illustrates how to:

• recognize the imprint of childhood experiences on adult life,
• deal effectively with the mental health system,
• improve family relationships and reach out to others, and
• reclaim self-esteem and coping skills.

Included also are the voices of those who have made this journey before, and from their example, readers learn not only that acceptance and healing are possible, but more important, that as brothers, sisters, and children whose relatives have a mental illness, they are not alone. Troubled Journey concludes with a comprehensive listing of books, organizations, self-help groups, and mental health listings.

Diane T. Marsh, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. She is the author of Families and Mental Illness and several other books on families and illness. Dr. Marsh and Rex Dickens are actively involved in The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Dennis Wholey, veteran talk-show host of PBS’s “This is America with Dennis Wholey” and “Dennis Wholey: America!” has been transformed by the change in his life. In his phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Courage to Change, he shared his triumph over alcoholism and his decision to change his life. Now, in his long-awaited breakthrough book, The Miracle of Change, Dennis inspires and challenges readers to embrace life’s changes and seek their rewards. The Miracle of Change also includes the experiences and wisdom of professionals and well-known people including Andrew Weil, M.S.; Wayne Dyer, Ph.D.; Mary Higgins Clark; Marianne Williamson; Martin Sheen; Betty J. Eadie; Michael J. Fox; Arianna Huffington; and many more.

Dennis Wholey’s words of encouragement are woven within the personal reflections of more than 60 people ranging from movie stars to people who remain anonymous. Even though the lives of the contributors are vastly different, they are all determined to welcome life’s changes and reap its rewards: freedom, contentment, fulfillment, and happiness.

We all wonder at times where our motivation comes from. Where do we get our interests and abilities? How was Felicia able to teach herself to play the recorder with so much ease? Why did five-year-old Eric leave a museum in tears because he could not have a suit of armor? Why did Helen trip her Barbie doll’s hair and replace a glamorous evening gown with a simple tunic? And where do some of our problems come from?

Past-life therapist Barbara Lane regressed thirteen medieval and Renaissance reenactors to find out if they might be recreating a happy past—focusing on the joy of festivals and banquets and tournaments—in order to provide a safe context for healing ancient soul memories.

During their regressions, Nick, who recalled a past-life beheading, was released from debilitating migraines; Paula, who remembered dying at the hands of a vicious man, no longer feared being victimized; and Dori, who experienced the past-life loss of a child, was now freed of her fear of having children.

Remembering past lives and soul growth seem often to go hand-in-hand. Our souls, after all, contain the record of our experiences in the earth; and what a joy (and deep relief) it is to find that there is no irreparable damage from our past lives!

Written from a personal perspective, the book is based on the oral traditions passed on to the author by his MicMac Algonquin elders and spiritual teachers. The volume brings to life the poetic Algonquin culture, which emphasizes wholeness and the sacred in all things and in which there is “no word for time.”

Author Evan Pritchard shares his own experiences of fasting, his first sweat lodge, his vision quest. He writes eloquently about Algonquin purification rituals, dancing as sacred poetry in action, cherishing diversity, and reverencing the earth. His portrait reveals the spirituality of the Algonquin so that “people from all paths and nations can relate.” A descendant of the MicMac Indians of the Miramichi Valley, Pritchard has been teaching and organizing cultural exchanges for the past eight years.