...our stories are who we are, where we begin. They connect us, tearing down walls and shattering isolation. For story is where hope begins.

And that afternoon, as the sun slanted low through the changing autumn leaves, I remembered to savor the moment, soak in the beauty, breathe deeply and feel the immensity of God.

Chronic illness is hard. Pain is hard. Isolation is hard. The financial cost is hard. Grieving is hard and necessary and sometimes takes far longer than we every imagined.

Recently God asked me the same question in a new way, "And if I don't allow you to heal, if I never remove the pain, will you still trust Me?

Could our plodding, our daily persevering through a life we didn't expect, don't want and didn't choose, actually bring blessing?

I don't care about your pasti know one thingthati want to be your last

While there are things about which one does not boast, there are others for which to be pitied would be all too humiliating.

—and I say you still haven't answered my question, Father Bleu.""Haven't I, dear lady? I thought I stated that death is merely the beginning

The young feel tired at the end of an action The old at the beginning.

I think the war in the Mideast, how we got into it and how we're going to address the current problems, are issues that every American should be concerned about.

The danger from lightning is gone when the thunder is heard, and the worst is over when misfortune has arrived.

A gentleman's park is my aversion. It is not beauty because it is not nature.

For my daughter, it's going to mean something special that Hillary Clinton accepts the nomination, and I wanted to make sure that she sees that.

What other movement determines the S line? Its aesthetic efficacity has long been noted by artists.

If Bruce Springsteen, Harlan Howard, or Tom Waits can tell a character's whole story in four minutes, maybe you don't need as many words as you think to make an impact.