Contemporary — Humility

18 illustrations

All (1,136)⛪ LensLines™ (648)🏛️ Historical Examples (125)📖 Stories & Illustrations (121)⛪ Tradition Perspectives (68)🎯 Application Points (54)🙏 Devotionals (50)💭 Theological Reflections (25)🌍 Contemporary (18)🔍 Biblical Insights (17)🎬 Movie Analogies (4)🕊️ Prayers (3)🧘 spiritual discipline (3)

Contemporary

A Grain of Sand Full of Galaxies

In December 1995, astronomer Robert Williams made a controversial decision. As director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, he pointed the Hubble...

Isaiah 40:26

Universal

wonder

creation

237 words

Contemporary

Fifty Years of Quiet Faithfulness

In the winter of 1938, a twenty-nine-year-old London stockbroker named Nicholas Winton canceled a skiing holiday to travel to Prague. What he found — refugee...

Hebrews 6:10Universalhumilityhidden faithfulness

258 words

Contemporary

Three Hundred Fifty Poems in a Lifetime

On October 3, 1996, the Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to Wisława Szymborska of Kraków, Poland, praising her poetry's "ironic precision." What...

Ecclesiastes 3:11Universalwonderattention

242 words

Contemporary

The Gift That Needed No Enhancement

On September 10, 1960, sixty-nine marathon runners lined up in Rome for the Olympic final. Among them stood Abebe Bikila, a twenty-eight-year-old corporal in Emperor...

2 Corinthians 12:9Universalhumilitynatural gifts

239 words

Contemporary

The Secret Scrapbook

In 1988, a retired stockbroker named Nicholas Winton sat quietly in the studio audience of the BBC program *That's Life!*, hosted by Esther Rantzen. He...

Matthew 6:3-4Universalhumilityhidden faithfulness

258 words

Contemporary

The Standing Witnesses

For fifty years, Nicholas Winton said nothing. In the winter of 1938-1939, the young British stockbroker had traveled to Prague and organized the rescue of...

Proverbs 22:1Universalhumilityhidden faithfulness

262 words

Contemporary

The Glory Hidden in a Grain of Sand

On December 10, 1996, in Stockholm's Concert Hall, the Polish poet Wisława Szymborska received the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy honored her for...

Proverbs 25:2Universalwonderattention

255 words

Contemporary

The Astronomer Who Risked His Reputation on Darkness

In December 1995, Robert Williams, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, made a decision that baffled his colleagues. He pointed the Hubble...

Psalm 8:3-4Universalwondercreation

255 words

Contemporary

Twenty-One Trains to Washington

On a sweltering August morning in 1963, twenty-one chartered trains rolled into Washington, D.C., alongside more than two thousand buses and ten chartered airliners. Over...

Matthew 6:3-4Universalservicehumility

269 words

Contemporary

The Poet Who Built Her Life on "I Don't Know

On December 7, 1996, Wisława Szymborska stood before the Swedish Academy in Stockholm to deliver her Nobel lecture. The Polish poet — so private she...

Psalm 8:3-4Universalwonderattention

240 words

Contemporary

Barefoot on the Stones of Rome

On the evening of September 10, 1960, sixty-nine runners lined up for the Olympic marathon in Rome. Among them stood Abebe Bikila, a twenty-eight-year-old member...

1 Corinthians 1:27Universalhumilitynatural gifts

251 words

Contemporary

Feet Made for the Heights

On September 10, 1960, Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia lined up for the Olympic marathon in Rome with no shoes on his feet. The other runners...

Psalm 18:33Universalhumilitynatural gifts

284 words

Contemporary

The Checklist That Saved Ten Thousand Lives

In 2008, surgeon Atul Gawande stood before the World Health Organization with an audacious claim: a simple two-minute checklist could prevent thousands of surgical deaths...

Proverbs 27:12Universaldiligencehumility

237 words

Contemporary

Before the First Cut

In 2008, surgeon Atul Gawande confronted a humbling reality: operating rooms staffed by the most highly trained professionals on earth were still making preventable mistakes....

Luke 14:28-30Universaldiligencehumility

242 words

Contemporary

A Surgeon's Humble Revolution

In 2008, Harvard surgeon Atul Gawande faced a uncomfortable truth: operating rooms filled with the most educated professionals on earth were making preventable mistakes. Not...

Colossians 3:23Universaldiligencehumility

239 words

Contemporary

Ten Days Staring at Nothing

In December 1995, Robert Williams, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, made a decision his colleagues called reckless. He pointed the Hubble...

Psalm 19:1Universalwondercreation

242 words

Contemporary

The Man Behind the March

In the sweltering summer of 1963, Bayard Rustin worked from a cramped office at 170 West 130th Street in Harlem, a telephone receiver pressed to...

Micah 6:8Universalservicehumility

246 words

Contemporary

A Title Willingly Surrendered

In the summer of 1963, Bayard Rustin faced an impossible task: organize the largest demonstration in American history in just eight weeks. Working from a...

Philippians 2:3-4Universalservicehumility

253 words