On the wall of what my grandmother called the "sitting room" of her antebellum home in South Carolina, was a constellation of family portraits—old pictures of my uncles and aunts, my cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents, a genealogy in photographs. In the very middle of the cluster, in the place of honor, was the portrait of someone I did not recognize. It was a sepia-toned, Civil War-era ...

The problem with looking to Hollywood for the image of masculinity (even those true-to-life stories of courage) is that it feeds my desire for glory. Courage isn't only in the big accomplishments. It's in the small acts, too.

When I leave the theater and scratch the car door next to me getting into my car, my decisions about whether or not to leave a note admitting my mistake isn't glorious. Nobody ...

Julio Diaz, a 31-year-old Bronx social worker, just wanted to do what he did every night on the way home from work: grab a quick bite to eat at his favorite diner. Only one thing stood in his way from doing just that—a mugger. When Diaz stepped off the train and onto the subway platform, a teenager ran up to him, pulled out a knife, and demanded Diaz hand over his wallet. Realizing it wasn't ...

Love cannot exist in isolation: away from others, love bloats into pride. Grace cannot be received privately: cut off from others, it is perverted into greed. Hope cannot develop in solitude: separated from the community, it goes to seed in the form of fantasies. No gift, no virtue can develop and remain healthy apart from the community of faith. "Outside the church there is no salvation" is not ecclesiastical ...

In a 2007 article for Christianity Today, Jenell Williams Paris, a mother to infant twins, explained how motherhood cultivates the spiritual discipline of self-denial every single day. Naps for little ones dictate the reality of a nap for the caretaker. A baby's cry for milk tears a carefully constructed schedule to pieces. Sickness demands a steady healing hand. The challenge for the mother, Paris ...

Even the best of humanists devise systems of ungrace to replace those rejected in religion. Benjamin Franklin settled on 13 virtues, including:

Silence: "Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation." Frugality: "Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; that is, waste nothing." Industry: "Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off ...

In 2007, Spherion, a career recruiting and staffing agency, asked 2,000 employees if they had ever taken office supplies for personal use. Nearly 20 percent of employees admitted they had. Surprisingly, the likelihood that someone would use company materials for personal use increased with education and salary level.

For example, 13 percent of employees with a high school education said they pilfered ...

On January 12, 2002, the [Tampa Bay Buccaneers] had suffered a crushing 31-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs. Two days later, [head coach Tony] Dungy was fired.…He was now the former head coach of an NFL team.

"At that time in my life, it was hard to remember God's promise from Romans 8:28," Dungy says, "that all things work together for good to those who love Him. But I also ...

A 2004 study at Temple University School of Medicine found that lying takes more brain energy than telling the truth. Participants were divided into two groups. Those in the first group were asked to shoot a toy gun and then lie and say they didn't do it. Those in the second group watched what happened and then told the truth about it. An MRI machine indicated that the liars had to use seven areas ...

When comparing believers with those who consider themselves atheists or agnostics, the Barna Group found believers to be more positive, generous, and socially active, as reflected in these behaviors:

Likelihood to vote:
Active-faith Americans: 89 percent
No-faith Americans: 78 percent

Being active in their communities:
Active-faith: 68 percent
No-faith: 41 percent

Personally helping homeless or poor ...