May 9, 2017 Book: Spring: Meditations Author: John Bartunek Liguori Publications. Liguori, Missouri. 2016. Pp. 114 An Excerpt from the Jacket: When was the last time you stepped outside to enjoy a warm spring day? Chances are it wasn't recently. With all the demands of a busy life, we're fortunate to spend time outside at all, let alone be in harmony with nature. This book of weekly meditations gives you the space to reconnect with that essential element of your humanity. You'll find yourself relating the rhythms of the seasons to the rhythms of life, from the struggles we all experience and the virtues we need to work on. Take time to reflect on this beautiful connection between your physical environment and your spiritual life. You might feel as if society is constantly telling you to pursue more. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing. This spring, try to find more. More time away, more time with God, and more courage to live your life with faith. An Excerpt from the Book: Responsibility Spring is a planting season. Farmers have to act fast once spring breaks. They have to read the weather and identify the small window in which they can plant their crops --- after the last frost and the heaviest rains that would wash away or flood new seeds. Then they have to do the actual planting by plowing the soil, fertilizing, laying the seed, irrigating, and preparing all the tools and materials necessary for this complex and delicate process. Reading the weather takes keen observation and practical wisdom. Planting the seed takes hard work. If farmers are careless on either point, the entire growing season will suffer because of it, their economy will be severely strained, and consequences will reverberate into daily struggles for the whole family during the next winter. They need to be responsible in order to be fruitful. Who would you rather have: a responsible, hard-working teammate or an undependable, lazy one? The answer is obvious. And yet, when it comes down to it, many people have trouble being responsible. We know what we should do, but we hem and haw about it. We procrastinate, like a teenager who spends twice as much energy finding ways to avoid his chores than simply doing them. Table of Contents: 1. Hope 2. Courage 3. Love 4. Humility 5. Loyalty 6. Patience 7. Responsibility 8. Wisdom 9. Discernment 10. Purpose 11. Beauty 12. Faith