God has made [our] fantasies … so preposterously unrewarding that we are forced to turn to him for help and for mercy. We seek wealth and find we've accumulated worthless pieces of paper. We seek security and find we've acquired the means to blow ourselves and our little earth to smithereens. We seek carnal indulgence only to find ourselves involved in the prevailing erotomania.

—Malcolm ...

During one memorable at-bat the spring of my son's first baseball season, he repeatedly hit the tee instead of the ball. And it was obvious what the problem was. He wasn't keeping his eye on the ball; he was looking right at me instead. He was unable to get a base hit until finally I stepped out of sight.

We joked about that the rest of the season, but what the incident shows is the power of fatherly ...

Recently I spoke with a friend named Carol (name changed) who had just returned from a difficult ocean cruise. She works for an organization that was helping to sponsor the getaway for a group of more than 1,000 people. In the middle of winter, Carol flew with her colleagues from Chicago to Mobile, Alabama, where they were to board the ship. As she and hundreds of other excited vacationers waited ...

God created humans to live a life of love. I saw an article in Fast Company magazine that confirmed this truth to me that we were made to live for others. The article was about a very successful man whom you have probably never heard of: David Kelley. Kelley is the founder of what many regard as the premier design firm in the country—Ideo—and a professor at Stanford University for more ...

In 2008, 5 million people participated in addiction programs because of alcohol or drug abuse. Participants by age:

• 12–17 years old: 5 percent
  
  
• 18–25: 15 percent
  
  
• 26–49: 57 percent
  
  
• 50 and over: 23 percent
  
  

The Josephson Institute, a Los-Angeles-based ethics institute, conducted a character survey of nearly 30,000 students at 100 randomly selected high schools nationwide. Among the findings:

• Sixty-four percent of students said they had cheated on a test in the past year.
• Thirty percent had stolen from a store.
• Forty-two percent said they would lie to save money.
• Eighty-three percent said they had lied to their parents about something significant.

What is the most beautiful thing you have experienced this week?

Maybe something you heard. Maybe some beautiful music—perhaps in church, or in the cathedral. Maybe something in the world of nature: the sun breaking through the mist and making the autumn leaves luminous, the curl of a squirrel's tail as he sat nibbling a nut. It might be something you smelt: the scent of a rose perhaps, or the ...

A 2008 survey by The Barna Group asked adults which, if any, of eight behaviors with moral overtones they had engaged in during the past week. The behaviors included looking at pornography, using profanity, gambling, gossiping, engaging in sexual intercourse with someone to whom they were not married, retaliating against someone, getting drunk, and lying. Of those surveyed:

• Twenty-eight percent had used profanity.
  
  

The A & E documentary Beauty in a Jar is an examination of the $7 billion cosmetics industry in the United States. It covers the historical, cultural, and social aspects of women's make-up. As the documentary begins, Linda Wells, editor-in-chief of Allure magazine, comments: "Women want to look better. It's such a simple wish for all women." Various scenes of women putting on make-up are shown. "It's ...

NFL running back Shaun Alexander writes:

At the University of Alabama, I was meeting women from a lot of different backgrounds. My mother had taught me never to exploit women—that sex was meant only for marriage—and to treat women with respect. I knew the boundary lines it wasn't right to cross… I knew if I didn't keep my focus, I could fall. And it could occur anytime.

One time it ...