Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Dorothy Sayers

"Books . . . are like lobster shells," wrote the inimitable Dorothy Sayers (b. June 13, 1895). "We surround ourselves with 'em, then we grow out of 'em and leave 'em behind, as evidence of our earlier stages of development.” 


To this, we might add: we also grow into 'em. 

Sayers herself gave us a fair and varied number of volumes to grow into and out of: poetry, plays, mysteries, essays, and translations (she considered her rendering of Dante's Inferno to be her best work, idiosyncratic though it may be). 

And what would we be without her famous Guinness "Zoo" advertisements? (Sayers worked for nearly nine years as a copywriter in a London advertising agency and is credited with coining the phrase, "It pays to advertise!")

Listed below you'll find a few titles by Sayers that we usually keep in stock. Click through to find out more, and stay awhile.

The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri; translated by Dorothy Sayers

The Passionate Intellect: Dorothy L. Sayers' Encounter with Dante
by Barbara Reynolds

Dorothy Sayers: The Complete Stories

The Complete, Annotated Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers

The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by Dorothy Sayers

The Mind of the Maker, by Dorothy Sayers

The Song of Roland, translated by Dorothy Sayers

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In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair . . . the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.  Dorothy Sayers







Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Suffering and the Nature of Healing

by Daniel B. Hinshaw, M.D. — 262 pp. paper $25.00

“If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.” This quotation from Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning expresses the perspective Hinshaw adopts in this study of the true meaning of “care for the sick.” After exploring the ancient Christian tradition with regard to healthcare and then surveying how “care for the sick” has largely given way to a concern for “curing the disease,” he embarks on a study of what it truly means to care for those who are suffering during illness. Part one asks “what is suffering, and what is its significance?” Defining suffering as a “threat to the unity of the person,” Hinshaw illuminates (through theological reflection and qualitative research) what patients and their loved ones experience as they undergo suffering on multiple levels. The second part focuses specifically on the encounter of a patient with those trying to help, asking what constitutes a therapeutic relationship and how the patient’s pain should be viewed in that context. Hinshaw then proposes that some measure of healing can be achieved even when the patient’s suffering will end in death. Gathering wisdom from secular psychology and recent trends in the spirituality of palliative care, he offers a distinctly Christian perspective on suffering and death, including the roles played by reconciliation, gratitude, and communion in the “transformation of suffering into victory,” even at the end of life.