A positive, affirming collection of essays that teaches how to understand and accept life's darkest hours -- The Voice That Calls You Home will improve the way readers live each and every day.

As a hospice chaplain, cancer survivor, and a chaplain at Ground Zero following September 11, Andrea Raynor has gained a keen perspective on the meaning of life and death, comfort and grief. Through her own experiences, Raynor reminds readers that even in the most dire of circumstances, we still have the opportunity to recognize beauty, to be inspired by the tenacity of the human spirit, and to feel connected to something greater.

Raynor acknowledges that we may not be able to prevent the difficulties that come in life, but we can always choose the way in which we face them. She urges us not to "live with our heads down, our eyes closed, and our hands in our pockets." Instead, she prompts us to remain open to the blessings that are all around us and to face life's challenges head-on -- "to increase our courage, re-new our hope, and unite us in the knowledge that we are not alone."

In the tradition of Anne Lamott and Kate Braestrup, The Voice That Calls You Home is a warm, personal, and practical guide to appreciating the wondrous world we live in, offering perspective on how we can bear the sorrows that are sure to come with a steady eye and a sense of hope, and find the connection between the spiritual and the everyday.

This book is on these lists:

• April 2012 Indie Next List
• March 2012 Indie Next List
• February 2012 Indie Next List