From Participants


 . . . in a community setting
“I have joined a group whose members are from several different churches. The person leading the group is using Rise Above It as the text.  I cannot adequately express the enthusiasm, joy, and love we all experience, and are involving others in.  The book is going to the coast today, to the father of one of our group who attended one of the meetings, and so the ripples go out . . . Our sincerest congratulations on this wonderful book.”  —Helen Ottev, Gauteng, South Africa

 . . . in a college classroom
“You have produced a magnificently insightful, practical program that has been like a ray of sunshine in my life, waking me up to guiding principles of life within God's Ten Commandments.”  —Jodi Carr, Bryn Athyn, PA

 . . . on-line for college credit
“This was the last graduate level course I needed toward a Ph.D. in Pastoral Psychology. It was a wonderful course, superbly thought out and delivered.  May it be Bryn Athyn’s flag ship for on-line courses, with a fleet of them to follow.”  —Ann V. Graber, Ph.D. Visiting Professor of Pastoral Psychology, Graduate Theological Foundation, and Director of Distance Learning, Viktor Frankl Institute, Abilene, Texas 



From Course Leaders


. . . in a community setting
“I can’t think of anything that has so inspired my life.  I sent it to a friend in Ohio who is a member of the Methodist Church. She wrote back, ‘Virginia, that was the loveliest book I have ever read. I am 94 years old and I never knew I had been living the Ten Commandments all my life. . . Those people are doing the Lord’s work.’”  —Virginia Latta, leads a Rise Above It seminar at Cairnwood Village, a retirement home for senior citizens in Bryn Athyn, PA.

“People are thrilled to discover that there is an inner meaning to the Bible and to the Ten Commandments. Their lives are altered.  Applying the inner meaning of the commandments to our lives can change who we are and how we conduct ourselves.  To me it’s stirring evidence of a loving God that is here now today, caring deeply about the path we are choosing. Leading this course has been a privilege and a delight, fully as wonderful for the leader as for the group.”  — Karen Elder, mother, artist, and musician, lives in Oak Arbor, Michigan

“It’s an amazing way of giving truth to the world in a way that’s useful.”  —Vera Dyck, led a mother’s group in Ivyland, PA.

“The part of teaching Rise Above It that is inspiring to me is the enjoyment that the people who participate get out of it.  I can see that what they read, and the things I tell them are making a real difference in their lives.  The Ten Commandments have a whole new meaning now, and these people are really trying to apply it to their lives.  That is inspiring.  Every time I see one of them they tell me how much they are enjoying the course, and I know that the Lord is working in them and that brings me joy. This is an ideal program for personal growth.”   –Nicola Echols is teaching the course in Boston, Massachusetts

 . . . in prison settings
"There was one thing that touched me from the start, and that was the genuineness and sincerity that I perceived in the course participants. I know that these men were serving time for serious crimes. But there seemed to be something redeeming that shone through their eyes and could be heard in the tone of their voices when they spoke. There were elements of openness, caring, humility, and most touching of all, innocence.”  —Rev. Mark Pendleton, reflecting on his experience of teaching Rise Above It in the Arizona State Prison system

“Rise Above It confirms everything we have learned about addictions counseling, and offers inmates the opportunity  to think beyond religious clichés and pat answers, providing concrete ways to apply new learning to their daily life experience.  This is a valuable book for a prison setting.”  —Rev. Dr. Tina Campbell, Chaplain, Arizona Dept. of Corrections (20 years as an addictions counselor)

“What a joy it has been to lead the Rise Above It seminar in the prison setting. This is a 'bare bones' approach to spirituality, with no fancy frills, and no confusion. I find that the inmates intuitively understand that this is 'it' that this is the kind of deep spirituality they have been yearning for. Separated from the confusing dogmas and traditions of the many religious systems of the world it cuts to the core and delivers the basics. This is a system that works like magic in the prison setting. These guys know what's what. They've been around. They have built-in hypocrisy detectors; and they know the real thing when they see it. This is the real thing. This is what will set them free.”  —Robert Merrell, M.S. counselor at Aldie Health Center and instructor at Bucks County Correctional Facility, Doylestown, PA.