In a 2009 article in Time magazine, writer Coco Masters shared a startling statistic: one in five Japanese men and women have seriously considered taking their lives, and each year over the past decade, more than 30,000 people have killed themselves in that country. But Masters surrounded those troubling statistics with the story of Yukio Shige. It's because of Shige that at least 188 Japanese men ...

Editor's Note: On March 10, 2008, we published the following story as an "Editor's Choice" illustration. The story had a number of errors in it, and we wish to provide you with a corrected version. Over the years many pastors have embellished the story, adding the idea that the man who called Joe in the middle of the night was one of Tim Bayly's friends playing a prank on Joe Bayly, Tim's father. ...

The following is a letter from a father to his daughter, taken from Dr. James Dobson's book, When God Doesn't Make Sense:

My Dear Bristol,

Before you were born, I prayed for you. In my heart I knew you would be a little angel, and so you were. When you were born on my birthday, April 7, it was evident that you were a special gift from the Lord. But how profound a gift you turned out to be! More than ...

The sentence still jumps out at me from the middle of an editorial in The Wall Street Journal. It's been half a decade since I read it, but it was one of those electric expressions that you can't forget: "People want to be lightly governed," the writer said, "by strong governments."

That's what you've wanted since you were a small child. You wanted your dad to be big and strong and able to do anything ...

The Thing About My Folks, with Paul Reiser and Peter Falk, is about a man named Ben who is finally able to spend some quality time with his father, Sam, after Sam's wife leaves him following almost 50 years of marriage.

In this scene, Ben and his father are stopped on the side of a country road. Ben has handed his father a letter that his mother had written to Sam when Ben was born, but had never ...

Simon Birch is a touching story of a young boy and his friend, Simon Birch. Simon is a 12–year–old dwarf child in a small town in Maine who is convinced God destines him for great heroism. His parents treat him with disdain, but Joe Wenteworth (Joseph Mazzello) and his mother (Ashley Judd) reveal the beauty of unconditional love as they invite Simon (Ian Michael Smith) into their lives and ...

Set in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Finding Nemo is the tale of a clownfish named Marlin, and his heroic search for his son Nemo. Marlin's past is filled with calamity—including the tragic loss of Nemo's mom and siblings in a ferocious barracuda attack. Ever since, Marlin lived timidly, fearing another dreadful thing would happen. He played it safe, never trusting, never risking.

His apprehension ...

Golfer Arnold Palmer once played a series of exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia. The king was so impressed that he proposed to give Palmer a gift. Palmer demurred; "It really isn't necessary, Your Highness. I'm honored to have been invited."

"I would be deeply upset," replied the king, "if you would not allow me to give you a gift."

Palmer thought for a moment and said, "All right. How about a golf ...

In his book The Wisdom of Tenderness, Brennan Manning tells the following story:

Several years ago, Edward Farrell of Detroit took his two-week vacation to Ireland to celebrate his favorite uncle's 80th birthday. On the morning of the great day, Ed and his uncle got up before dawn, dressed in silence, and went for a walk along the shores of Lake Killarney. Just as the sun rose, his uncle turned and ...

Carla Faye Tucker in 1983 helped to kill two people with a pickaxe, and she was so animalistic in her behavior that she laughed while she did it. She was found guilty and imprisoned. On death row, Carla Faye Tucker became a born-again Christian, and all those close to her say, "You can't question the legitimacy of her conversion experience."

Carla Faye Tucker became the first woman executed in Texas ...