Bøger af Chris Highland

Essays exploring the edges, and edginess, of faith and freethought. Former minister Chris Highland presents another collection of essays primarily drawn from his weekly columns in the Asheville Citizen-Times (North Carolina).

In the face of faith-based ignorance and weak "progressive" religious movements Chris Highland presents a fresh path of liberation rooted in freethinking beyond the walls of theology. With a refreshing style of fearlessness and truthtelling, this unapologetic spiritual insurgent points to what he sees as the Achilles' heel of the Christian religion, nailed to a broken cross, and then offers surprisingly down-to-earth, positive and joyful alternatives. Now this longtime interfaith chaplain, teacher and former protestant minister presents his personal voyage out of Christianism (and theism) through incisive questions, thoughtful reasoning and anecdotes laced with a touch of wit and humor. He grounds his practice of "happy heresy" in his own compassionate counseling experience working with homeless folk, prisoners and people with broken bodies and minds, as well as his many years exploring religion, philosophy, Nature and the most troubling fractures of faith.

A compilation of sixty insightful reflections from John Burroughs, the great naturalist from New York whose friends included Walt Whitman, John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. This is the sixth book in the popular series by Chris Highland that includes Muir, Thoreau, Emerson, Whitman and Fuller. The editor draws upon years as an interfaith chaplain and student of Nature to highlight the best of Burroughs' spiritual side. Drawing from Burroughs' many books, this collection presents his close observation of wild Nature in an easy daily-reading format. Burroughs was a radical lover of the cosmos who saw that 'the earth is divine, and . . . God is everywhere.' His creed was 'not even a faith; it is a love, an enthusiasm, a consecration to natural truth.' With selections placed alongside quotations from an incredible diversity of thinkers and sprinkled with crisp black and white photographs, this work takes an essential place in this series packed with wisdom for the path.

A compilation of sixty insightful reflections from Margaret Fuller, the brilliant woman of letters from Massachusetts who was a colleague and friend of Emerson, editor of Thoreau and mother of the women's movement in America. This is the fifth book in the popular series by Chris Highland that includes Muir, Thoreau, Emerson, Whitman and Burroughs. Though she lived to only forty years of age, Fuller left a vast number of letters, poems, articles and books to inspire and challenge the reader. The editor draws upon his research as well as years as an interfaith chaplain and student of Nature to lift up the brightest of Fuller's spiritual side. 'I wish my lot had been cast amid the sources of the streams, where the voice of the hidden torrent is heard by night, where the eagle soars . . . .' With selections placed alongside quotations from an incredible diversity of thinkers and sprinkled with crisp black and white photographs, this book adds an essential, wise and soaring voice to the series.

Chris Highland continues his friendly style of freethought in this new collection of essays (not published in his weekly columns) circling the theme of Nature. Chapters include: Pathfinding; Dirty Glaciers;; Eulogy for a Pond; I Sing the Body Electricity; The Phone Tree; Lessons from the Treetops; Nature's Scripture; Natural Economics; Life is Too Short; By the Hands of Nature; How Green is God?; Green Village; Touch of Death; Wonder and Wildness; Living Bridge; Ancoutahan; Nearer to Wonder; and Mini-Migrations.

A young radical climbs a mountain in Judea and meets a strange man from a far away land. Their brief adventure in the great classroom and sanctuary of Nature prepares the way for The Storyteller and his revolutionary band of misfit insurgents.

Thoughtful reflections for active humanists from a freethinking former minister.

A fresh collection of scattered thoughts from the curious mind of a freethinking humanist who is not anti-religious.Chapters include: 1-Secrets of the Universe 2-What Have You Really Seen Today? 3-Ubuntu: A Secular Answer to Spiritual Questions 4-The Greatest Love of All 5-Is There a "Natural Spirituality"? 6-Ego de Lego (You Have Heard that it was Said) 7-What Ever Happened to the Golden Rule? 8-Frames of Faith & Points of Reference 9-Religious Morality & Secular Ethics 10-Disturbing Disruptions/Insightful Interruptions 11-Paul Laurence Dunbar & the Heart of Happy Hollow 12-The Devil's in the Details: Do We Still Need Satan? 13-If We Applied Our Minds to Know Wisdom (Koheleth) 14-There is Always Another Trail 15-The Thinking Earth & the Laughing Tree 16-Three Mothers 17-The Sticky Note God 18-The Sweetness of Light in the Blink of an Eye 19-The Elimination of the Unthinkable 20-The Coffin Confessor 21-Olaudah Equiano: Slave, Sailor, Scribe 22-Preachers in Public Schools 23-Cherry-Picking Christians & Tomato-Throwing Atheists 24-Seneca, Wisdom & Living Well with Nature 25-If Everyone Believed the Same as I Do 26-Sagan Saves Us from the Demon-Haunted World 27-Does Rising from the Dead Matter? and many more. Not for the weak of faith or non-freethinkers.

Once a youthful apostle, now a mature apostate, Chris Highland adds to his collections of essays with more saunters into the secular world with a freethinker's perspective.

A Freethinker's Gospel is a collection of columns by Chris Highland, first published in the Asheville Citizen-Times from 2016-17. A former Protestant minister and prison chaplain, Highland is now a secular "freethinker" who muses on the natural world, on being a non-believer in a highly religious society, and the commonalities shared between religions.This compilation of essays offers his reflections on interfaith work, the search for self-discovery, and the commonalities that bind us regardless of social, political, economic, or religious backgrounds. His insights about the marvelous structure of our natural world and what nature can teach us, and the way our society is structured, addressing humanism, the natural world, and sensitive issues of faith, are enlightening and challenging.Chris Highland was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and lived for over 35 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was a Protestant minister and Interfaith chaplain for many years before becoming a Humanist celebrant.With a degree in Religion and Philosophy from an evangelical Christian university (Seattle Pacific) and a Master of Divinity degree from a diverse consortium of seminaries (Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley), he has been active in "presence ministry" and nonprofit work in a private school, a county jail, homeless shelters, and affordable housing.He is the author of ten books including Meditations of John Muir, My Address is a River, Life After Faith, the novella Jesus and John Muir, as well as an essay collection, Nature is Enough. He has taught courses on Nature Literature and Freethought in California and North Carolina.Chris blogs at Secular Chaplain. As a member of The Clergy Project, he contributes to Rational Doubt on Patheos. Seeking wider connections, he also holds membership in the American Humanist Association, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Religious Naturalist Association, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

A pocket-sized compendium of passages from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grasspaired with the relevant words of a variety of historical and contemporary thinkers, such as Margaret Fuller, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jane Goodall, Mark Twain, Marc Chagall, Helen Keller, Buddha, Dante, and Bhagavad Gita

Editor Chris Highland pairs 60 insightful Muir quotes with selections from other celebrated thinkers and spiritual texts. Take this pocket-size guide with you on backpacks, nature hikes, and camping trips.

A selection of 60 thoughtful Thoreau quotations and placed them alongside the wisdom words of writers, philosopohers, and teachers from around the world. Bound in a lovely and compact format, the book totes easily along in your pocket, backpack, or picnic basket. Solitude never felt so cozy.