MSI Press Blog

Do You Love Me?   Arthur  Yavelberg     "Do you love me?   Most people see such a question and assume it comes from some  starry-eyed  young person, thrilled with emotion but quivering that the feelings are not mutual. Depending on the experiences of the reader, the reactions might range from a nostalgic "How sweet!" to the hardened "How stupid!" to the cynical "How naive!" There might even be the analytical "Once again the Darwinian drive to perpetuate the species rears its ugly head."   As it turns out, the question is posed by a wizened, abjectly poor Jewish farmer to his equally wizened wife of some 25 years.  In the musical, “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevye and Goldie are contemplating the arranged marriage of the first of their five daughters in the pogrom-ridden, Russian village of  Anatevka   around the turn of the century.  They are wrinkled, rather shapeless, shabbily dressed and, maybe worst of all, just oh so tired by years of peasan

Arthur Yavelberg, author of the multi-award-winning book,  A Theology for the Rest of Us , shares the following column from his blog: “If there is nothing for which you would commit murder, you cannot play the role of  Lady MacBeth! ”  That is how the now aging opera diva,  Maria Callas , dismissed a young, pretty, but not quite ripened, ingenue who aspired to one day take center stage on her own.  She had the voice, yes, and even something of “the look,” but she lacked the life experience to be able to channel the passions depicted by a  William Shakespeare  or  Giuseppe Verdi.   While this production at the  Arizona Theater Company  did not intend a spiritual debate, it is significant that Callas insisted "for which you would commit murder” and not “if you have not murdered.”  In religious terms, Callas was echoing the famous line of Jesus: “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.“ (Matthew 5:2

  Recently, Arthur Yavelberg's intriguing book, A Theology for the Rest of Us , placed as a finalist in the American Bookfest Best Books Competition in the category of general religion. Awards Best Indie Book Award Literary Titan silver award American Bookfest Best Books Finalist To read more posts by and about Arthur and his book, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. 

  What is a book jewel? A sometimes-overlooked book with remarkable insight and potential significance. Each month, we share near-daily, or as often as possible, reviews of the monthly book jewel - short, succinct reviews that can be read in 1-2 minutes with links to the reviewer by reviewers whose words are worthy of being heard and whose opinions are worthy of being considered. Sometimes a couple of minutes contains more impressive thought than ten times that many. We will let you decide that. This month's book jewel is  A Theology for the Rest of Us  by Arthur Yavelberg. Description: If God exists and is good, why is there evil? Avoiding such questions underlies the spiritual emptiness and anxiety in today's world. A Theology for the Rest of Us explores how to approach the divine through Eastern and Western religious traditions without dogma, challenging readers to "be you lamps unto yourselves." In a time of internecine wars and all kinds of abuse of authority and

  An article worth reading....Click HERE to go there! For more blog posts about Arthur Yavelberg and his book, click HERE .

Arthur Yavelberg, author of  A Theology for the Rest of Us , recently wrote a column for the  Arizona Star  about harmony in spiritual humility. A Theology for the Rest of Us has earned the following awards: Best Indie Book Award Literary Titan Silver Aware For more posts about Arthur and his book, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter  here  or on our  home page . Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of any of our books? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.  Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our  Authors' Pag

  Recently Arthur Yavelberg, author of the multi-award-winning book,  A Theology for the Rest of Us ,  published a column in the Arizona Daily Star , called "Differing Spiritual Mindsets." You can read the article right here: A Theology for the Rest of Us  has earned the following awards: Best Indie Book Award Literary Titan Silver Aware American BookFest Best Books Award finalist For more posts about Arthur and his book, click  HERE . For more Arizona Daily Star columns by Arthur, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrentl

  Tomorrow at least 70 community members -- may be a lot more since these are the only ones who voluntarily sent an RSVP. Television coverage is expected, and the service will be videotaped. With any luck, we will have it available for the next Caturday. It will als o be available on Sula's Face Book page . The Memorial Service includes all the usual components: prayer, song, and eulogies. In addition, a gratitude basket is being given to the Animal Cancer Center in Monterey, where the staff prolonged Sula's life by two years, and, this being close to Francistide , Br. James from the St. Francis Retreat Center will be be blessing the animals.  Sula's prayer card, which will be distributed at the memorial service, can be ordered through the MSI Press webstore , essentially at cost, by anyone anywhere who would find the card comforting.  For more posts about Sula, click HERE . Arthur Yavelberg, author of  A Theology for the Rest of Us , was recently featured in an  Authorit

  From the author: For me, the "back story" must go back to when I was 8 or 10 or so.  While my father was a devout atheist, my mother was very superstitious and tried oh-so-hard to avoid evil spirits of any kind.  I then came across "King of Kings," a movie about the story of Jesus, and "Kung Fu," a tv series about a Taoist monk forced to live in exile in America's Wild West.  How he applied his Taoist values to such a different setting was intriguing to me.  Looking back, it's hard for me to believe my coming across such media was pure coincidence.  Maybe the Hindus are right that "That which you are seeking is causing you to seek."  Anyway, I never stopped thinking about such things and, finally, when I retired, I had the time and inclination to write.  Only child that I am, I am still not so narcissistic as to think this entire Covid pandemic was the Divine's way of getting me to write by making sure I had little else to do.  Neve

  As always, posts by Arthur Yavelberg, author of the award-winning  A Theology for the Rest of Us   make for thoughtful reading. Here is talks about " Lost in Translation " from the viewpoint of religious sacred texts. Book awards for Arthur's book Literary Titan Silver Award Best Indie Book Award For more posts about Arthur and his book, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.  Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can!  Find their contact information on ou