Showing results by author "Kenneth Langer" in All Categories

A Theory For All Music describes ways to more deeply understand the music of all cultures and traditions through the study and use of musical parameters. Book One defines the fundamentals of musical theory from music reading to chord analysis.

A selection of magical stories to entertain your children whilst you are waiting at the airport and are flying to your holiday.

Ten easy to produce and perform plays designed to be used as part of intergenerational worship services which bring to life important lessons about being together in community.

In the magical Forest of Songs there is a mighty and wonderful tree called the Great Tree. It is the home of a clan of fairies whose varied personalities are reflected in the colors of their brightly decorated wings. These sixteen short stories follow the first year of life for one young fairy known as Arylide. She is born from a flower and lives in the Great Tree as she learns about making friends, discovers who she is, and finds out how to celebrate and honor Earth and her changing seasons. These stories are designed to be entertaining and fun while also helping children learn about the ...

New ways to look at those old playing cards including symbolic representations, insights into tough problems, and even a few new games.

A collection of original prayers, chants, litanies, mantras, and affirmations that can be helpful and useful to people of any kind of personal or group spiritual practice.

A Theory For All Music describes ways to more deeply understand the music of all cultures and traditions through the study and use of musical parameters. Book Two expands upon the concepts learned in Book One leading to the creation of traditional four part writing.

There is a world of fascination found in the deck of cards known as the Tarot. Nowadays, Tarot cards are often used for divination and books on the Tarot describe how to read and use the cards for that purpose. This book does the same by describing a unique way to learn the cards but then explores worlds beyond simple divination. The seven ancient "planets" of the solar system are used to help explore even more ways to learn, explore, create, and have fun with the cards. Specifically, four methods of using the cards are used. There are new and interesting card spreads, ways to discover ...

A Theory For All Music describes ways to more deeply understand the music of all cultures and traditions through the study and use of musical parameters. Book Three develops an understanding of the parameters of music and how to use them in a detailed analysis of music.

The 36 images most often associated with a Lenormand deck have been re-assigned to the meanings of the numbers and suits of standard playing card whose meaning. Nine additional images have been added. These 45 images (excluding the Man, the Woman, and the Child) made it possible to assign one image to each of the number cards and the two Jokers of a standard deck.

Stagehands argue about their relationship between acts, a mountain climber struggles to rise above the summit of public opinion, the man once sent to kill a princess finds her working at a diner, retired superheroes lament their new life, and a villain threatens to blow up the world if he can get the Henchman Union to end contract negotiations. These are some of the situations found in this second collection of ten-minute plays. Each one is designed to be produced with just a few actors, few props, and within a single setting. They are easy to perform or fun to just read.

The Tao Te Ching, or the Book of the Way of Virtue is an ancient and venerable Chinese text that may date back as far as the 4th century BC. Its simple yet profound words have been an inspiration to countless generations of artists, writers and thinkers; its ideas are so basic yet so deep that they can be related to most any activity or pursuit. Yet, its original audience was to the emperors of that ancient time and not the general populace. I, too, was inspired by the Tao Te Ching and wrote a set of aphorisms that would relate to our own postmodern condition and time. These words reflect ...

We are welcoming congregations. We say so on our church buildings, on our banners, in our sermons, and on our websites but does that message really ring true for visitors and newcomers to our faith and our worship services? Sometimes the building and the things and people inside that building can send a different message. What happens to a guest after they step inside is as important to the practice of hospitality as is the initial welcome. To be truly welcoming to people of all identities, backgrounds, and characteristics, a guest is not asked to conform to standardizations but is invited ...

This book is a collection of sermons delivered by at the First Church in Barre, Universalist Church in Barre, Vermont between the years of 2023 and 2024. The Barre Church is associated with the Unitarian Universalist movement which is a modern non-creedal religion that supports and includes people of all religions and beliefs–even if that includes no belief.

What if the world was filled with ministers–people who cared about the well-being and wholeness of others? To minister is to attend to the needs of others and there are many great people who have committed their lives to that mission but not everyone is able to dedicate themselves to becoming a professional minister. Some choose to help others as a lay minister or non-professional caregiver. This text serves as a guide for training and support for people who want to become lay ministers or group facilitators of any spiritual tradition.

The church was once the place where great art was commissioned, performed, and displayed but Protestant churches grew out of the Reformation. The Protestants wanted simple services with little embellishment and that was the tradition the Puritans brought to America. That tradition influenced church liturgy well into the twentieth century but the times are changing. While reason may have been the driving force in the formation of early American churches, many people of this age desire a spirituality that is embodied. They want to express themselves emotionally as well as intellectually. They...

In our lives we are often too quick to look for lines that divide the “this” from the “that” but the world we live in does not recognize such clear distinctions. Life and nature exist within a spectrum of complexity rather than in carefully labeled boxes. Science, nature, and spirituality are not pursuits of understanding with contrasting viewpoints and objectives. Each looks at a different aspect of the spectrum of complexity that is the universe. That which we call the divine, or God, is not separate from these things but is both the source and the goal of the continuous evolution...

Happiness. It is something we all say we want but so few seem to actually possess it. Why do some people seem to be so happy all the time while others struggle to find joy in their lives? Answers to these questions have come mainly from traditional psychological and religious understandings. The Sacred Quest looks at happiness from a universalist perspective. It demonstrates that happiness is bound together with our spirituality but a specific path is not as important as is the dedication to a life of growth, connection, and expression.

The practice of meditation is often connected to a specific spiritual tradition but all religions use some form of meditative practice. With over 100 different exercises and an expansive exploration of the purposes and uses of meditation to expand the self, this book explores the practice of meditation for people of any tradition including those with no tradition. Through a relationship with the earth, our place in the world, and our own bodies everyone can find a connection to all and seek wholeness.

Comedy is how we cope with the absurdity of life. The person who cannot step back and see how ludicrous are most of the things we encounter in life is the person who gets mired and engulfed in them. Comedy lets us step back and see the whole picture. It reminds us of what is really important which certainly includes laughing and laughing often. These four comedies each take on several situations but exaggerate them until they become enlarged and laughable. To each are added an unusual use of standard theatrical tradition. A writer of one play becomes involved with his own characters. ...