In her newest collection of essays, Barnhouse (Waking Up The Karma Fairy) writes about everyday events, rendering them spiritual. At Big Bill's U-Store, an auction of rummage items prompts Barnhouse to dream up an emotional baggage sale:

"Sweating strangers stand over piles of other people's sorrows and pain, along with my old resentments, worn stories of betrayal and missed chances. I pictured walking away from a pile of that baggage, leaving it there on the hot asphalt."

Drawing from both her personal experience and her insights as a minister and therapist, Barnhouse urges readers to let go of regrets and stress about the future and to surrender to circumstance during times of conflict. Her motto: Don't just do something, stand there.

Barnhouse's humorous and hopeful message is that faith in family, friends, and one's self, rather than sudden actions, provides the guidance necessary to weather life's problems and personal struggles.