I experienced unusual events as a child. Over time, I accepted that some things exist outside rational/empirical/logical understanding. Many years later as a chaplain, I listened to patients share their life stories. Those in the final stage of life often described experiences of stepping through the veil between this world and the next. Although the mystical may not be talked about, it is always present. It can be a knowing that guides you forward in a positive direction or stops you dead in your tracks to protect you. And in a moment of grace, it can offer a reassuring glimpse of the journey ahead.
This classic children’s story was one of my favorites. E.B. White artfully pulls us into a world where we watch Charlotte, the barn spider, spin a web of magic to save her beloved friend Wilbur, a livestock pig. This is a tale of enduring friendship and loyalty that is both otherworldly and incredible—yet we believe it with all our hearts. As a child, this book captivated me; as an adult, it inspires me. Its mystical gift lies in its ability to transport you into a world where inherent good rules.
Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child.
On foggy mornings, Charlotte's web was truly a thing of beauty . Even Lurvy, who wasn't particularly interested in beauty, noticed the web when he came with the pig's breakfast. And then he took another look and he saw something that made him set his pail down. There, in the centre of the web, neatly woven in block letters, was a message. It said: SOME PIG!
This is the story of a little girl named Fern, who loves a little pig named Wilbur - and of Wilbur's dear friend,…
Renowned theologian C.S. Lewis invited children and adults into the world of Narnia with the simpleopening, “Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.” An ordinary start. But by the end of the first chapter, when we follow Lucy through the magical armoire into Narnia and are introduced to a prancing faun, our journey into a mystical realm is assured. By the time Aslan, the magnificent and wise lion appears, we have accepted Lewis’ extraordinary world as ordinary. I have reread this book more times than I can count from age eight on. It never fails to enchant and leave me in awe of Lewis’ gift to capture young and old readers, alike.
Lucy steps into the Professor's wardrobe - but steps out again into a snowy forest. She's stumbled upon the magical world of Narnia, land of unicorns, centaurs, fauns... and the wicked White Witch, who terrorises all. Lucy soon realises that Narnia, and in particular Aslan, the great Lion, needs her help if the country's creatures are ever going to be free again...
Lea's second novel chronicles the unlikely friendship of Ivy-educated George Mayes and elderly Maine woodsman Evan Butcher. It memorializes the all but vanished oral culture from which Evan derives; it also plumbs the depths of addiction and the glories and challenges of recovery. Evocations of the natural world are lyrical…
John Steinbeck’s third novel (written in 1933) explores faith and belief with a heavy dose of mysticism, pagan rites, and fantasy. The story follows Joseph Wayne to California where he establishes a thriving ranch. With a fierce connection to the land, Joseph’s beliefs are at times a raw blend of biblical and pagan. After his father dies and a drought strikes the land, Joseph’s good fortune disappears and his faith is tested. Steinbeck was better known for East of Eden andGrapes of Wrath, but this book is my favorite. It feels at times gritty and uncomfortable, but it is also intensely authentic.
While fulfilling his dead father's dream of creating a prosperous farm in California, Joseph Wayne comes to believe that a magnificent tree on the farm embodies his father's spirit. His brothers and their families share in Joseph's prosperity andthe farm flourishes - until one brother, scared by Joseph's pagan belief, kills the tree and brings disease and famine on the farm. Set in familiar Steinbeck country, TO A GOD UNKOWN is a mystical tale, exploring one man's attempt to control theforces of nature and to understand the ways of God.
Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Márquez plunges his readers into a surreal tale of magical realism where the extraordinary sits alongside the ordinary. The mythical town of Macondo creates a backdrop for seven generations of the Buendia family. This is a challenging read that is dense with Latin American history. But it is well worth it. Take it in small doses, if necessary. I found I had to reread passages to absorb it, but the richness of the characters and setting made it a mystical literary feast.
One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women -- brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul -- this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.
Paper Dolls is the memoir of a girl who becomes a young woman in a passionate search for an enduring friendship. Deprived of her older sister, Tess Vanderveer, by the neediness of an Irish ghetto girl, Dove Delaney, Gwen also loses the friendship of Millie Dietz, the beautiful daughter of…
Mitch Albom steals our hearts with his main character Eddie, a mechanic who attempts to rescue a child from a malfunctioning carnival ride. When Eddie suddenly finds himself in heaven, he is re-introduced to five people he had known while alive; their purpose is to help him make peace with his life. Albom has a gift for making you feel his characters. Although this is a heartwarming story, it is also a commentary on mortality and the meaning of life. This book hits home. In particular, I appreciate how Albom’s ‘take-aways’ and life lessons are simple yet profound. A box of Kleenex is recommended.
A STUNNING 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE MASTER STORYTELLER'S INSPIRATIONAL CLASSIC
To his mind, Eddie has lived an uninspiring life. Now an old man, his job is to fix rides at a seaside amusement park.
On his eighty-third birthday, Eddie's time on earth comes to an end. When a cart falls from the fairground, he rushes to save a little girl's life and tragically dies in the attempt. When Eddie awakens, he learns that the afterlife is not a destination, but a place where your existence is explained to you by five people - some of whom you knew, others…
Mystical Sight is a mystery thrillerthat lifts the veil that separates this world from the next. Mystical is defined as an extraordinary experience that inspires a sense of spiritual mystery and awe.
Sacred icons with the miraculous gift to heal have vanished. Gus Killian, an edgy investigator, and Frank Rheininger, a contemplative monk, are thrown together in an unlikely partnership. Gus depends on cold hard facts; Frank communes with the spiritual realm. Bonded by their determination to retrieve the mystical artifacts, the two men journey from the Rockies of Colorado to the monasteries of Greece and the Catacombs of Rome. As unnerving events occur, the worlds of the two men converge. It becomes clear: Together they have the answers, apart they stand alone.
The Beatles are widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in history and their career has been the subject of many biographies. Yet the band's historical significance has not received sustained academic treatment to date. In The Beatles and the 1960s, Kenneth L. Campbell uses The…
Hemingway's Goblet is a rollicking read about a mismatched relationship between a middle-aged commitment-phobic university professor in London and one of his female students, a Korean 15 years younger than him. He is accused of sexually harassing her, but somehow their relationship survives as they join forces to seek to…
