Remembering Eden

In this book, Peter Thacher Lanfer seeks to evaluate texts that expand and explicitly interpret the expulsion narrative of Adam and Eve in Genesis beyond the biblical canon.

In this book, Peter Thacher Lanfer seeks to evaluate texts that expand and explicitly interpret the expulsion narrative of Adam and Eve in Genesis beyond the biblical canon.

According to legend, the Garden of Eden was located in Iraq, and for millennia, Jews resided peacefully in metropolitan Baghdad. Memories of Eden: A Journey Through Jewish Baghdad reconstructs the last years of the oldest Jewish Diaspora community in the world through the recollections of Violette Shamash, a Jewish woman who was born in Baghdad in 1912, sent to her daughter Mira Rocca and son-in-law, the British journalist Tony Rocca. The result is a deeply textured memoir—an intimate portrait of an individual life, yet revealing of the complex dynamics of the Middle East in the twentieth century. Toward the end of her long life, Violette Shamash began writing letters, notes, and essays and sending them to the Roccas. The resulting book begins near the end of Ottoman rule and runs through the British Mandate, the emergence of an independent Iraq, and the start of dictatorial government. Shamash clearly loved the world in which she grew up but is altogether honest in her depiction of the transformation of attitudes toward Baghdad’s Jewish population. Shamash’s world is finally shattered by the Farhud, the name given to the massacre of hundreds of Iraqi Jews over three days in 1941. An event that has received very slight historical coverage, the Farhud is further described and placed in context in a concluding essay by Tony Rocca.

Winner of the Association of Catholic Publishers 2017 Excellence in Publishing Award: Inspirational Books (First Place). In the first book to explore how memories impact and are affected by faith, bestselling author Dawn Eden offers a guide to the process she used to heal the pain of her past. Through her own story, as well as the examples of St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Peter Faber, and Pope Francis, she shows how the mercy of God, who holds all of events of our life in his own memory, can bring you healing and inner peace. Dawn Eden’s My Peace I Give You helped thousands find peace after abuse and established her as the leading Catholic authority on recovering from traumatic stress. In Remembering God’s Mercy, Eden—who suffered childhood sexual abuse that left her with PTSD—describes how she was inspired by the example of Pope Francis, St. Ignatius, and St. Peter Faber, all of whom suffered from their own painful experiences and followed a similar path to healing. Pope Francis has spoken openly about how a life-threatening bout of pneumonia affected his relationship with God, saying that recognizing and accepting the power of memories to color perceptions is essential to seeing God in all things and experiencing inner peace. The pope was influenced by the examples of Ignatius and Faber. Ignatius suffered the loss of his mother at a young age and was sent by his father to live with another family. He also fought as a mercenary soldier as a young man and experienced the trauma of war and physical pain. Faber, a student of Ignatius and among the early members of the Society of Jesus, suffered from bouts of depression and anxiety for years. He wrote in his diary how he applied Ignatius’s spiritual practices in a way that enabled him to rise above his mental suffering to grow closer with God. Through the wisdom of these three Jesuits, Eden developed an Ignatian model of healing: Acknowledge your memories. Accept that they change the way you see God, your fate, and other people. Allow God to transform your memories by coloring the past and present with his story of salvation. Eden examines how Jesus’ wounds can bring healing to your own hurt through prayer, Mass, the Sacraments (particularly confession), and the life of the Church. In each chapter, she will engage you with specific steps to take using the most famous Ignatian prayer, the Suscipe—Latin for “receive”—to transform your past traumas into an offering to God that is united with Jesus’ own self-offering.

Between these covers is an unfolding of a whole new world; a whole new existence chronicled by the hand of the only one who could truly give us the lens to see what he experienced; Adam. We have had our minds enchanted with wild imaginations of what it was like to be there and witness the beginning of beginnings. What did it really look like, what did it really sound like, what did it really feel like? Now we have a rare opportunity to take a trip back in time to where and when it all began...guided by the first eye-witness; Adam. Come walk with him in the companionship of Almighty God and hear their intimate conversations. Experience the exhilaration, the breathless awe, the euphoria of living in a perfect, truly flawless world. And then experience the most insidious tragedy of unthinkable betrayal. Experience a love that transcends anything humanly conceivable. Come along side and walk with the one that can truly tell the story like no one can; Adam himself! Jean is a Licensed Minister with the Assemblies of God and a published writer for Vista Magazine. She has served as Youth Pastor and Assistant Pastor in established churches and in pioneering church plants. Jean is a dynamic public speaker sharing her unique gift of blending humor and storytelling with Truth for audiences of all walks of life. Her wealth of wisdom and insight has been enhanced by ministering to diverse cultures through mission's travels in Appalachia, Siberia, South Africa, and the Amazon Jungle of Peru. She holds degrees in Theology in Biblical Studies and Christian Ministry from John Wesley College. Jean is a devoted wife and mother of four exceptional boys residing in North Carolina. Find out more at www.JeanMcCollum.com.

Opposites attract in this hot second chance romantic suspense. He doesn’t deserve a second chance. Second chances and happily-ever-after endings aren’t meant for men like Ramsey Hyde. He’s a criminal mastermind, a cold-blooded heartbreaker, and certainly no one’s idea of a dream guy. Except…once upon a time, this heartbreaker lost his heart. She can’t remember their time together. Dr. Whitney Augustine is considered by many to be one of the luckiest women in the world. She survived an attack that should have killed her. But her miraculous rescue came with a twist…she lost the memory of the last six months of her life. Whitney thought that when she returned to her home, her memories would follow…Unfortunately, they didn’t. He remembers everything about her… Whitney is desperate to figure out what happened during the missing six months of her life. So desperate, in fact, that she hires Trouble for Hire Private Investigations to help her out. The last thing Whitney expects is to discover that she was spending all of her nights with the most notorious—and dangerous—man in the area, the inscrutable and infamous Ramsey. Surely there is no way that she and Ramsey were involved in some hot and heavy relationship? They are total opposites and… She’s never fallen for the bad guy before. Just not her usual style. Whitney is a criminal psychologist. She profiles bad guys. She doesn’t date them. But all of the evidence—and her own wild, undeniable attraction to Ramsey—sure seems to indicate that she may have been involved with the gorgeous bar owner. But if they were involved, why the heck didn’t Ramsey tell her sooner? Ramsey has been keeping secrets from Whitney—and keeping a close watch over her. She might not believe it, but he’s trying to do the right thing for once in his life. He’s trying to protect her by keeping his hands off her. But, surprise, surprise, Whitney has her own secrets, too. And when Ramsey learns the life-changing secret that she holds so close to her heart, he will risk everything to claim her. New plan of attack… Ramsey has always known he could never, ever be good enough for Whitney…only now things have changed. A target is on her back because others have realized how very important she is to him. Staying away from her didn’t save Whitney before, so now Ramsey will have to step from the shadows as he pulls her into his world. He will surround her with his protection and if he just works hard enough, maybe one day, she will remember him…and maybe, just maybe…she could even love him. Author’s Note: It’s time for Ramsey to come out and play! Only Ramsey isn’t exactly the kind of guy who plays nicely with anyone. He’s been obsessed with Whitney from the moment they met, and he’s already had to deal with having his heart ripped apart when he thought she’d died. But Whitney is back in his life again, and this time, Ramsey is determined to protect her. Get ready for danger, romance, fun, and scorching hot romance! Ramsey is going to fight—hard and dirty—for the woman he wants.