Description:
Heres a different angle on humor--it can be a spiritual practice, an expression of a theology of joy, hope, and grace. Humor is so valuable, for it offers self-care, healing, and renewal, precious gifts in times of pressure and tension. Olson begins by telling of three unforgettable friends who lived their lives with joy and zest--a practice that opened doors and aided their own sense of well-being. Playfully, he continues by exploring the known benefits of humor. Next considered is the amazing variety of humor in the Bible, a basic theology of a laughing God, and the caring...

The later-adult years are commonly viewed as a period in which one struggles to maintain a vestige of the physical, mental, and emotional vitality of one's earlier years. In Still Growing, however, Donald Capps contends that older adulthood is actually a period of growth and development, and that a central feature of this growth and development is the remarkable creativity of older adults. This creativity is the consequence of the wisdom gained through years of experience but is also due to a newly developed capacity to adapt to unprecedented challenges integral to the aging process. Part 1...

Erik Erikson, best known for his life-cycle theory and concept of the identity crisis, proposed that we are comprised of a number of selves. In several earlier books, including At Home in the World, Donald Capps has suggested that the emotional separation of young children--especially boys--from their mothers results in the development of a melancholy self. In this book, Capps employs Erikson's assignment of an inherent strength to each stage of the life cycle and proposes that the life-enhancing strengths of the childhood years (hope, will, purpose, and competence) are central to the...

William James called his classic work, The Varieties of Religious Experience, ""a study in human nature."" This volume recognizes that a fundamental feature of human nature for James is that we have a conscious and a subconscious mind and that the subconscious mind is deeply implicated in the religious life, especially in conversion and other experiences of spiritual enlightenment. In this volume, Capps addresses religious melancholy, the divided self and discordant personality, religious conversion, the saintly character, and the prayerful consciousness. In addition, the cases of two...