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Perhaps we’ll never fully understand why good music is such a source of comfort and peace. Most of us have experienced music working its magic in our lives. We’ve felt good music easing our worries and disappointments, lifting clouds of discouragement, and soothing our fears. A woman who was struggling with depression found that, if […]
Memories made in early childhood stay with us. They are fixed points of reference throughout our lives: how a beautiful flower smells, the softness of a kitten, the sound of a well-loved voice reading a story. This first, fresh view can color all our later experiences. A wise man wrote, “The web woven around [us] […]
Communicating with those we love can be one of our most difficult challenges. The words we use can make or break a relationship. A father, who was deeply troubled over the lifestyle his adult son had chosen, took advantage of every opportunity to preach him poignant little sermons punctuated with his condemnation. The son loved […]
One of the many ways that God shows His love for us is the guidance and inspiration He sends into our lives. As children of our Heavenly Father, we can rest assured that He will lovingly lead us if we are willing to listen and to learn. Divine guidance can come in many forms: prayers […]
As we stumble our way through a world full of shadows and confusion, we find ourselves wishing for firmer footing and clearer vision. So many of life’s challenges can seem as difficult to us as long division to a small child. Like a child, we wish we could sneak a glance in the teacher’s desk, […]
The prophet Isaiah gives us much hope with his description of a future when “the wolf . . . shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”1 For centuries, prophets and […]
Of all the wonders of the natural world, perhaps none intrigues us more than the stars. As children, we hear the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” known in many languages. A few years later we learn to make a wish on the first star seen of an evening. Around the world, on clear evenings, […]
All great achievements have one thing in common: They were doubted—sometimes even scoffed at—by others with less vision. Every great leader, inventor, and pioneer has chosen to ignore the skeptics who said it couldn’t be done. In many cases, these remarkable heroes endured years of persecution and loneliness in order to make life better for […]
A man flying home from a business trip was surprised when the woman in the seat next to him asked how he could possibly know there is a God. The man explained that he had often felt God’s presence in his life, guiding and directing him as well as comforting him in times of need. […]
The blessing of freedom is easily taken for granted—until it is lost. From a silent battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Abraham Lincoln spoke of the patriot’s dream of freedom begun two generations before. Then it was a “new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”1 But on the […]
A businessman, exhausted from a lengthy trip that yielded far less than he had anticipated for all his hard work, sat gazing out of his office window one late afternoon. He felt overcome with discouragement. Even the sky was overcast. He sat, as it were, marinating in his misery when he noticed a break in […]
Who can measure the extent of a father’s love or place a value on the power of his example? The same loving father who quiets a five-year-old’s nighttime fears can speak across generations in the memories of his adult children, who are now raising five-year-olds of their own. In so many ways, for better or […]
In times of distress or anxiety, most of us find comfort in prayer. Just as a child runs to his parents’ bedroom when a dark night turns frightening, we grown-ups turn to our Heavenly Father when we’re troubled or in pain. We know the comfort sincere communion with our God can bring. And most of […]
Sometimes the words we use to describe the good and beautiful things of life make them seem too difficult to achieve. But when we examine the words more closely, something like holiness is not so far out of reach. The dictionary says holy means “belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power.” In […]
A teacher felt compassion for a young boy in her class whose father had been out of work for some months. The family had moved several times and was currently living in a government shelter. Sympathetically, the teacher said, “It must be difficult to have no home.” But the boy quickly and emphatically explained that […]
A father of five children, who lost his job a year ago, had to survive on part-time work while looking for a steady job. He was sure the financial strain would intensify conflicts at home. But to his surprise, the layoff became a blessing. Every one of his children expressed joy in the extra time […]
The birth of a child brings joyful noise into a home. And then, a score of years later, the silence after his departure is filled with memories: thoughts, images, and whispers of years gone by. The child, who just yesterday slept in a bassinet, now enters college; the son, who a few days ago scuffed […]
A newborn baby laid in its mother’s arms is a bundle of potentialities. For one so small, knowing little and recognizing even less, it will take an artist’s eye, an eye born of hope and love, to trace the child’s possibilities. The sculptor Michelangelo’s name is on a plaque affixed to a large block of […]
In the days when people depended upon sheep for food and clothing, village shepherds often gathered their flocks into a single sheepfold at night. Once the sheep were gathered in, one of the shepherds could stand watch at the gate and protect the sheep from predators. In the morning the other shepherds returned, and each […]
In our daily opportunities to give help to others, do we measure our efforts in terms of their immediate results or by whether we did all that we could to serve those around us? Our efforts need not be expensive or well publicized. We can bless the lives of others through seemingly small, well-intentioned acts […]
Perhaps the most enduring and important theme in all the world’s great literature is the search for home. From the great epic poems of antiquity to the most important plays and novels of our century, writers have depicted heroes lost and far from their loved ones, lonely and desperate for the refuge and comfort of […]
It was Thomas Carlyle who penned the words: “Music is well said to be the speech of angels.”1 One important duty of angels is to watch over us. Interestingly, music at times has assumed that divine duty. When part of our lives, music can help us in time of need. Parents who teach their children […]
Every spring we celebrate a newness of life. We rejoice over blossoms that have kept their promise; we cheer for saplings that have survived winter’s frost; and we marvel at the animal kingdom newly replenished. But at times, even in the midst of beautiful spring weather, we might be tentative. We keep the snow shovel […]
As a service project, a college student undertook to raise a puppy for a guide dog organization. Her job was to feed, exercise, socialize, and give basic obedience training to the puppy for a year. After that, the dog would receive additional training by the organization and then be given to a person with special […]
Wouldn’t it be marvelous if we could see into another person’s heart and know exactly how he feels? Instead of grappling with words and language to try to understand each other, we could simply read each other’s thoughts. Such dreams are the stuff of science fiction. No matter how well we think we know someone, […]
A traveler, walking along a forest path, comes across an intricately woven tapestry lying on the ground. After much effort, the traveler determines how the pattern was woven. Is it possible for that traveler to focus entirely on the tapestry without ever once wondering about the one who created it? We are that traveler. God […]
Choosing the right road at the beginning of a journey will more likely ensure reaching the right destination. A man boarded a bus with the clear intention of going to a large eastern city. At the end of a long trip, he found himself not in the East but in another city far south. He […]
Sometimes, in order to get along with those around us, we find ourselves in situations where we need to compromise. And yet, there are also times when we need to take a stand, define our position, and refuse to back down. When it comes to questions of personal integrity—to those beliefs which most define us—we […]
During some of World War II’s darkest days, Winston Churchill inspired his countrymen with these words: “Let us . . . brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire . . . last for a thousand years, men will still say: ‘This was their finest hour.’ ”1 Be our […]
We have long known the power of the written word. Through their writings, historians preserve the events that shape the destiny of nations. Poets write words that blissfully lift us above the mundane business of life into thoughtful reverie. Novelists, with the magic of their words, transport us into paths of excitement and intrigue. Philosophers […]