Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (John 11:1–6) Close Ties

The romance and development between Creighton and Annika was fantastic. Their tension, chemistry and spice was perfectly written and explored. I just loved how different but compatible they were; they definitely brought out the best in each other. Creighton’s possessiveness and jealousy was also my favorite. Open mindedness may also be a predictor of well being. In the study by Dezutter et al. sent questionnaires to 155 chronic pain patients and to 166 health participants without pain to compare their relationship between religious attitudes and subjective well-being by using a Literal Inclusion-Exclusion scale and a Symbolic Inclusion-Exclusion scale. 28 Literal Inclusion individuals define religious contents in a closed minded dogmatic fashion and Literal Exclusion individuals reject the possibility of religious reality. Symbolic inclusion individuals are more open minded and assume that several interpretations of religious content is possible, and Symbolic Exclusion individuals are less judgmental toward religiosity but do not think they need religiosity to find meaning for their life. Higher levels of wellbeing in the chronic pain sample were significantly related to Symbolic Inclusion and Symbolic Exclusion and lower levels of wellbeing were significantly related to Literal Exclusion, suggesting that a more open minded attitude toward religion and what lies beyond the ordinary might buffer the effects of chronic pain by offering meaning making, purpose, and hope. We get grumpy/sunshine, a trope I love, but with a dark twist and I was here for it. Creighton King is just that... a king! I loved how possessive and protective of Anni he was but also how sweet and soft he got around her, especially how much comfort she brought to him. It was so cute to read about.

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A study by Wachholtz and Pargament (2005) randomly assigned 84 college students to one of three groups, relaxation, secular meditation, and spiritual meditation. Participants filled out psychological and spiritual assessments prior to learning their technique. After practicing their technique for 20 minutes a day for two weeks, each individual placed their hand up to their wrist in a cold water bath and held it there for as long as they could. Psychological and spiritual assessments were completed again. The spiritual meditation group reported significantly more mystical experiences than the other two groups and a greater increase in closeness to God. Furthermore, although they reported the same subjective level of pain as the other groups they were able to endure the pain level almost twice as long as the other two groups. There is some debate regarding the role of spirituality and the impact of meditation on health. 44 In addition, Wachholtz and Pargament reported their effect on 83 participants who met the criteria for vascular headache. The participants were randomly assigned into four groups, Spiritual Meditation, Internal Secular Meditation, External Secular Meditation, and Relaxation. They were assessed through a pretest on headache frequency and severity, affect, anxiety, depression, quality of life, self efficacy, religious demographics, spiritual well-being, and spiritual experiences. Following one month of 20 minutes a day practice, the participants returned to the lab to practice their technique followed by placing their hand in a cold pressor bath. Next they completed a follow-up assessment. The Spiritual Meditation group reported a significantly greater reduction in headaches and greater pain tolerance in comparison to the other groups as well as an increase in existential well-being. 45 The spiritual meditators in both studies focused on one of four phrases: God is peace, God is joy, God is good, or God is love. All four phrases express a sense of goodness, support and comfort similar to what the participants in the Wiech et al. study may have experienced when they viewed a picture of the Virgin Mary. Words and images that evoke the presence of love, support, and/or comfort thus appear to have a salutary effect on pain. Repeating these phrases, or using visual stimuli can make these spiritual resources more salient to individuals who are experiencing pain. 42 This world of pain and suffering exists because without such a world Christ could not have died to show us the greatness of the love of God for sinners. But for some reason I had more difficulty connecting to Annika and Creighton's story than I had expected. My whole life since about 1969 has been devoted to trying to understand, live out, and make plain this sentence: God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him. And if you wonder where I get this sentence, I get it from texts like this. John 11:4 says this is not about death. This is about the Son of God being glorified. And verses 5–6 in their logical connection say this is about being loved. So, if it’s about being loved and Christ being glorified, then surely I’m being treated well. I am being given joy and satisfaction now and forever by the revelation of that glory. So we ask: “Why, Lord? Why is the world you made like this? If you are God why is this world so full of terror and trouble?” Wrong Reasons

This book was crazy intense and insanely addictive, once I started listening I couldn't put it down! The revelation that Psions once worshipped Nezarec may explain the design of the Exotic helmet Nezarec's Sin, which strongly resembles the helmets worn by many Psions. The helmet itself is similar to Nezarec's actual head and facial structure, with his horns being more vertically aligned in contrast.Algos (Dolor) was represented to be dwelling near the river Cocytus in Hades [11] along with other spirits: To be fair I don't think this is the worst RK's book. Not by any means. The story is your typical Rina Kent's book in its full unabashed cheesy glory.