to suffer alone
In a Downton Abbey episode, beloved housemaid Anna Bates is brutally raped. It was heart-wrenching to watch her try to keep it a secret. The head housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes, found Anna shortly after the assault—bruised, crying, and hiding in a corner. Despite the strong urgings of Mrs. Hughes, Anna told her to tell no one, not even her husband. She was not only afraid he would kill her assailant, but she also felt “dirty” and believed the attack was somehow her fault.
broken for tim?
While away from home on a lengthy work assignment, I attended a church quite different from my one back home. For instance, my adopted church observed communion (the Lord’s Supper) every time they met. Instead of the pastor or elders serving, ordinary members of the church shared responsibility for distributing the bread and wine.
mistaken identity
Although we’re 5 years apart, people often confuse me with my older sister. From the staff at my favorite coffee shop to my sister’s nursing students, we have many stories of people who try to ask me a medical question or who talk to her about writing. The mix-up seems humorous to us, because we don’t see the similarities that others view so clearly.
trust and reality
The young man looked at me in wide-eyed fear. He could climb no further. “What happens,” he cried, “if I fall off the rock?” “The problem isn’t falling; the problem is hitting the ground,” I said, smiling. He sent an accusing stare in my direction.
destructive pride
In the classic 1991 animated movie Beauty and the Beast, Gaston is the town’s strapping, egotistical hero. He’s a “manly man” admired by the locals and desired by many of the town’s younger women. Most seem to be huge fans of Gaston and overlook his obnoxious ways, except for the young and beautiful Belle.
eyes for fireflies
Just 5 and 7 years old, Liam and Elias eagerly awaited darkness and a fireworks display. Dancing with anticipation in a meadow, they pacified their impatience by marveling at the pyrotechnic sideshows of fellow holiday celebrants. Cherry bombs, sparklers, Roman candles, and fireworks of dubious legality violated the dusk.
search for significance
I have to admit, with some shame, that I’ve Googled my own name. I know, I know—it’s immature and narcissistic. I think I—and others like me—do this because we want some living proof that we’re significant and important in some way.
a heavenly lineage
Simon’s mother was 18 when she fell in love with a man who showered her with the affection she lacked at home. Their romantic tryst was short-lived, however, and he quickly returned to his wife and family when he discovered that she was pregnant.
selfish servants
The lighthouse keepers had survived harsh and lonely conditions on a meager salary, endured the incessant roar of the foghorn, and rowed their lifeboat onto stormy seas to rescue sailors. But the keepers had also resisted efforts to install a new lens that would have doubled the amount of light their station could have cast. Why? The keepers had made a financial arrangement with the maker of the old lens, and they didn’t want to lose the cash—even if it would have saved lives.
in the café
Crystal stares out the café window, wondering if life will ever improve. Five men, two kids, all by age 29. She’s lonely and wonders if man no. 6 will make things better.
He knows you
He knows you. He knows every microcosm and nanosecond of your existence—every cell, atom, and molecule; every interest, weakness, and achievement; every hope, dream, and grief.
impressions
A hazy morning at a harbor. Chalky, gray mist shrouds the boats, but a peach-colored sunrise warms the scene. Claude Monet captured this scene in his masterpiece “Impression, Sunrise.” Created in 1872, this painting was not well-received. French critic Louis Leroy slammed the painting as little more than a sketch that could barely be considered a finished work. Over time, however, opinions within the art world changed. Today, historians credit Monet’s harbor scene with having sparked the Impressionist movement.
not less in your mess
God’s royal family in Genesis was a bit seamy. Consider Abraham’s family. He slept with his female slave and later consented to his wife’s desire to banish the woman and his son by sending her into the wilderness (Genesis 21:14). What family could be worse than that?
diamond in the rough
Michael Dettlaff’s visit to Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park in 2013 turned out to be one gem of a trip! The 12-year-old ended up leaving its confines with a truly precious stone. The park, where visitors can dig up and keep jewels, has given up more than 75,000 diamonds since it was discovered in 1906. Michael’s glittering find was a whopping 5.16 carats, much to the delight of his whole family. He named the diamond, valued at nearly $15,000, “God’s Glory.”
