By drawing from his personal experience as a Baptist minister and Hospice chaplain, Rev. Griffith uses anecdotal stories to illustrate lessons for spiritual caregivers of the dying.  At the conclusion of each hospice vignette, he highlights a lesson to draw from his experience and spells it out plainly for the reader.  Three lessons surface throughout the book again and again.  Rev. Griffith’s lessons emphasize the ministry of presence, the importance of honesty and the need to redefine hope for the dying and their families.  The writing is clear, concise and to the point.  This book would be especially helpful for someone just starting out in hospice ministry or a caregiver of the dying.  It is helpful in that it gives examples of what one could experience through death’s transition.  It would be appropriate for a CPE student and even includes discussion questions at the end of the book to accompany each chapter.  These questions help point to the important issues of each vignette and lead the reader to conclusions which match the lesson.  Although the stories shared are touching and lessons informative, the information is very predictable.  The strengths and limitations of this book are that it is a basic, standard approach to spiritual care of the dying.  There were moments of beauty, but no “ah ha” moments.  The author intended to share his experience and plant the seeds of sensitivity and awareness of the spiritual needs of the dying.  And indeed, it was accomplished."

Bring together the pain of twelve years as a caregiver for one's own mother suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and a long fruitful career of professional ministry with the elderly, and then this book is given birth. Eileen Shamy is a pioneer in the field of ministry with the aging, especially those suffering with the devastating effects of Alzheimer's in her native country of New Zealand.

Shamy's personal passion for her subject matter betrays the seemingly technical title of the book. The first two words of the title are very apt. This book is a guide. It does not offer an exhaustive analysis of the disease process nor does it dwell on the theoretical basis for pastoral care. The book is extremely practical. Eileen lets the reader walk with her through the maze of confusion and shows how to make meaningful connections along the way. Relatable stories from her caring for her mother to other poignant examples from her ministry make the book very readable and applicable to every setting for ministry.

The purpose of the book is clearly stated in the introduction, "So this book is for all those who believe that human beings are more than just body, brain and breath, and who desire to provide an holistic, person to person mode of care - including the spiritual dimension - for their loved one or their clients." The suggestions given in the book are deeply spiritual, but also offer the best ways to communicate spiritually and deeply with those who can only experience the moment with very little or no memory of the past nor reference for the future.

The most helpful part of this book for me are the nine appendices filled with resources (i.e., orders of worship, venue for worship, suggestions for further reading, and a quick reference guide to how to be fully present with a person with Alzheimer's or other form of dementia.

I highly recommend this book for chaplains, pastors and anyone who desires to make meaningful connections with persons who can only experience the moment. Really, is there any better way to live out our faith every day?

Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright in their introduction summarize their book's purpose: "We hope, and indeed pray, that in this book we will be able to model a way of conducting public Christian disagreement over serious central issues that will inspire others to try the same sort of thing." The focus of their discussion is the historicity, self-understanding, and mission of Jesus.

Borg and Wright describe themselves, respectively, as a revisionist and a traditionalist, although they hold these labels loosely. Each of them embraces aspects of a traditional understanding of the Christian faith and at the same time challenge that perspective. IN part, this book is a summary of the authors' earlier work.

As I was reading I felt like I was listening to two biblical scholars in a friendly conversation. They seek to articulate their different perspectives while they affirm that which they hold in common. Written without a lot of technical language, the book is accessible to the lay reader.

N.T. Wright covered the familiar traditional arguments about Jesus' life. Borg distinguishes himself when he says, "I am not among the relatively few scholars who think that only that which is historically factual matters." He understands the New Testament gospels as both history remembered and history metaphorized. I appreciated Borg's point of view because he articulates the questions I have asked through my years of ministry.

I find this book to be a particularly helpful resource for the way it identifies two different faith perspectives as the Church seeks to be faithful to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus the Christ.