In 2004, a team of neuroscientists at University College London led by Dr. Tania Singer conducted a groundbreaking study on empathy and fairness using brain...

Universalforgiveness

238 words

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The Weight a Bishop Refused to Carry

In Victor Hugo's *Les Misérables*, Jean Valjean stumbles into the home of Bishop Myriel after nineteen years in prison. The bishop feeds him, gives him...

Universalforgiveness

213 words

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Wait and Hope

In Alexandre Dumas's *The Count of Monte Cristo*, a young sailor named Edmond Dantès is falsely accused and thrown into an island prison with no...

Universalhope

239 words

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The Stars That Died So You Could Live

Every atom of iron in your blood, every molecule of calcium in your bones, was forged inside a dying star. In 1957, astrophysicists Margaret Burbidge,...

Universalsacrifice

236 words

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The Sommelier Who Could Not Read

In 2012, a documentary called *Somm* followed four candidates preparing for the Master Sommelier exam — one of the hardest tests in the world, with...

1 Corinthians 2:1-16Universal

248 words

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The Figures in the Stone

In the Accademia Gallery in Florence, just down the hallway from the famous David, stand four unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo known as the Prisoners. These...

Universaltransformation

246 words

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The Long Walk to Mount Doom

In J.R.R. Tolkien's *The Return of the King*, there is a moment near the end of the journey that every pastor should know. Frodo and...

Universalperseverance

244 words

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The Thread That Led Into Darkness

In George MacDonald's *The Princess and the Goblin*, young Princess Irene receives an extraordinary gift from her mysterious great-great-grandmother — a thread so fine it...

Universalobedience

251 words

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The Nurse Who Knew Them by Heartbeat

In the neonatal intensive care unit at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, a veteran nurse named Carolyn has spent twenty-three years caring for premature infants. Some of...

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18Universal

237 words

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The Fellowship We Were Never Meant to Walk Without

In J.R.R. Tolkien's *The Fellowship of the Ring*, there is a moment at the Council of Elrond where Frodo, the smallest and most unlikely figure...

Universalcommunity

232 words

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When Aslan Calls Your Name

In C.S. Lewis's *The Voyage of the Dawn Treader*, there is a moment that has quietly undone generations of readers. Eustace Scrubb — a selfish,...

Universalpurpose

228 words

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The Unplayed Notes of Keith Green

In the late 1970s, Keith Green made a decision that baffled the music industry. At the height of his popularity, with albums selling briskly and...

Universalobedience

235 words

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The First Face She Would Ever See

When Fanny Crosby was just six weeks old, a man claiming to be a doctor applied a hot mustard poultice to her inflamed eyes. The...

Universalhope

264 words

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The Lion Who Died on the Stone Table

In C.S. Lewis's *The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*, there is a moment that has stopped readers mid-sentence for over seventy years. Aslan, the...

Universallove

232 words

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The Murmur She Almost Missed

During her third year at Johns Hopkins, medical student Priya Desai pressed a stethoscope to a patient's chest and heard nothing unusual. Just the steady...

1 Samuel 3:1-10Universal

239 words

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The Body Keeps the Score of Every Grudge

In 2001, psychologist Dr. Charlotte vanOyen Witvliet at Hope College conducted a landmark study on what unforgiveness does to the human body. She asked participants...

Universalforgiveness

238 words

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The Smoke Detector with Dead Batteries

Every year, the National Fire Protection Association reports that three out of five home fire deaths occur in houses where smoke detectors were either missing...

James 1:22Universal

241 words

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The Artist Who Mapped the Hidden Brain

In 1888, Spanish scientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal bent over his microscope in Barcelona and began to draw what no one had ever truly seen...

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18Universal

245 words

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The Debt Paid in Silence

In Charles Dickens's *Great Expectations*, young Pip rises from humble beginnings to become a London gentleman. Along the way, he grows ashamed of Joe Gargery,...

Universalhumility

235 words

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The Developer Who Deleted His Own Code

In 2003, Linus Torvalds faced a crisis. The licensing tool his team used to manage Linux — the operating system running on billions of devices...

Universalsacrifice

245 words

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What the Rancher Knew About Coyotes

Tom Hernandez ran cattle on four hundred acres outside Marfa, Texas. He told his new ranch hand something on the first day that the young...

James 4:7Universal

225 words