Pastor Pavlovitz returns to Mountain Light UUC

On Sunday, 2019 May 05, at Mountain Light Unitarian Universalist church in Ellijay GA, Pastor John Pavlovitz will deliver a sermon based on his new book, Hope and Other Superpowers.

Today more than ever, it seems like people are losing hope with the state of the world-and understandably so. It is overwhelming to keep up with the bad news out there in the traditional media or on social feeds; it is even more daunting to try and do something about it. So much so that many of us avoid it or feel paralyzed watching the proverbial car crash as we wait for someone to step up and change things. But what if we didn’t have to wait for someone else? What if there was a way forward that re-introduced compassion, kindness, and generosity into our lives and into the world? Pastor, blogger, and a powerful voice in the resistance, John Pavlovitz offers us just that with his new book, Hope and Other Superpowers: A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, ButtKicking, World-Saving Manifesto (Simon & Schuster, November 2018). This life-changing book asks us to question what kind of people the world needs, and then lays out a path to becoming those people. This is no hokey self-help book, nor is it an intimidating and guilt-inducing call to march on Washington. Hope and Other Superpowers is a road map away from the rhetoric of negativity, hatred, and violence that are seemingly everywhere, and towards compassion. Pavlovitz presents this path forward in a way that feels incredibly manageable and motivates readers to live outwardly and find purpose and identity as we care for the world in ways large and small. Drawing on lessons from beloved fictional superheroes, he shows us how to identify our own origin stories, build our own suits of armor, and guard against our own personal kryptonite. He identifies ten specific “superpowers” that ordinary people can draw on/employ to make their lives and the world at large a better place. Personal anecdotes and stories about real-life people peppered throughout make the book a delight to read.

“This isn’t a self-help book,” says Pavlovitz. “When we begin doing for others, we become the best version of ourselves in the process.” Readers who pick up Hope and Other Superpowers, and who are not already familiar with Pavlovitz’s voice and message from his previous books and his outspoken advocacy of kindness and equality, will immediately recognize that this book and this message is what the world needs right now. The book includes wisdom such as:

Hope isn’t found in a celebrity, religious leader, or politician—it’s found in the mirror.

We all have a small world that we can save.

You are uniquely equipped to fill a gap in the world of compassion, kindness, or generosity.

Our pain can be productive, allowing us wisdom and gifts we could access no other way.

Compassion (damn-giving) is one of the most powerful weapons we have in difficult times.

In Pavlovitz’s estimation, “Adversity – ours or others – is always an invitation to be transformed.”. This book is a testament to that notion—and a call to action for all of us to be inspired and live more meaningful lives.

John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, and activist. In the past five years his blog “Stuff That Needs To Be Said” has reached a diverse worldwide audience of millions of people, and he is widely regarded as a leading voice in progressive faith in America. A 22-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity, and justice— both inside and outside faith communities. In 2017 he released his first book, A Bigger Table. His second book, Hope and Other Superpowers, arrived in November of 2018.

For more information visit johnpavlovitz.com. Or you can find John on Twitter @johnpavlovitz, Facebook @johnpavlovitzofficial, and instagram @johnpavlovitz.

Hope and Other Superpowers is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, and wherever books are sold.

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