Making a Difference: A Story of Practical Compassion

Sooner or later, most people want to make a difference. Even little things count. Sometimes, though, we get the message that there’s more we could be doing.

Jim is living a good life—not too much work, time to enjoy the outdoors, a great group of friends, terrific parents, a girlfriend in the wings. But the year he turns 30, one friend is killed working for a charity in Afghanistan, and another friend joins Doctors Without Borders. Jim starts wanting to do more to give back—but what? He has no idea.

In his city apartment, he hears a voice calling, “My son!” His father is miles away in the suburbs. Who could be calling him “son”? After a few days, he forgets about the voice. But that weekend, helping his parents clean out the attic in their old Victorian house, he hears the voice again: “I have work for you. Come and find it.”

Jim has a series of other-worldly experiences, beginning with memories of dreams in the morning when he wakes up. Eventually he meets the source of the voice—and begins systematic spiritual studies at night while he is asleep. He learns a simple spiritual practice called the violet flame, which he teaches to a few friends—and even to his parents and his grandmother, Miss Twinkles. Together they use the violet flame to help each other with the practical problems they face—and to help the planet.

If you’ve ever wished you could make a difference but don’t quite know how, this book is for you. Both an engaging story and a how-to guide—everything you need to know is inside.

Balboa Press, September 2017, Softcover, 5.5×8.5, 248 pages, $17.99.
E-book, $3.99.