Over the years, I’ve encouraged and prayed for many battling loneliness for various reasons: nursing home residents whose family members don’t visit, the widow who spends her days outside so as not to be alone in her empty house, ministry leaders who don’t have anyone to confide in, and homeless people who feel ignored and…
The deadliest forest fire disaster in US history was the Peshtigo Fire in Northeast Wisconsin. It occurred on the same night as the better-known Chicago Fire (October 8, 1871) but claimed several hundred more lives. Peshtigo, a fast-growing city of wooden buildings and part of the lumber industry, was consumed within an hour by the…
Kayla’s brow furrowed as she shoved yet another slip of paper into an overstuffed box labeled “Give It to God” on all four sides. Sighing deeply, she sifted through the written prayers she had previously placed in the box. “I read them out loud almost every day,” she said to her friend. “How can I…
It was 1863. Edwin stood on a railroad platform in Jersey City. He watched as a young man was forced by crowds against a train car. The man dangerously fell into the crevice between the train and the platform. The train started to move. Edwin reached down and, at the last minute, pulled the man…
In Charles Dickens’ classic novel Oliver Twist, the sickly Oliver is born in a workhouse, an institution notorious for exploiting the poor. Orphaned at birth, the boy eventually runs away due to abusive treatment. Through an amazing set of “twists,” he learns he is heir to a sizable fortune. Dickens, who loved happy endings, ensured…
As a child of the 1950s and 60s, I grew up in the era when “America’s pastime” was baseball. I couldn’t wait to go to the park and play ball, and one of my greatest thrills was when I received my baseball jersey emblazoned with our team’s name—GIANTS! Though the number 9 on the back…
“Who can you call at midnight when everything has gone wrong?” This question shook me when I first heard it years ago. How many of my friendships were strong enough that I could impose on them in my hour of need? I wasn’t sure. Scripture has much to say about friendship, describing a friend as someone who keeps…
My family and I brought my dad home from the hospital. He had a degenerative disease, and we were now adjusting to the new 24-hour medical routines of his suddenly becoming bedridden and requiring a feeding tube. I was also planning for my mom’s gastric procedure and dealing with demanding clients at work. Feeling overwhelmed,…
“Sometimes in life we see things that we can’t unsee,” Alexander McLean told a 60 Minutes interviewer. The South Londoner was eighteen when he went to Uganda to assist in prison and hospice work. That’s where he saw something he couldn’t unsee—an old man lying helpless next to a toilet. For five days McLean cared…
In 304 ad, the Roman emperor Maximian victoriously entered the city of Nicomedia. Parades were ordered as the city gathered to thank pagan gods for the victory—everyone except for a church full of people who worshiped only the one true God. Maximian entered the church with an ultimatum: escape punishment by renouncing faith in Christ. They…