The threads that run through these entries — the subjects we return to, season after season — and where each one is taken up.
1
18th century — The Edge of What We Know
1980s — The Quiet Voice
19th century — The Two Great Warriors
2
20th century — The Last of Human Freedoms · The Weight of Words · The Same Person in Every Room · The Courage to Begin · The Lord Can Work with Motion · Not to Speak Is to Speak
21st century — Beautiful and Terrible
A
Abigail Adams — Great Necessities Call Out Great Virtues
Adversity and growth — The Vale of Soul-Making
Aging with faith — The Evening Brings Its Lamps
American Revolution — Great Necessities Call Out Great Virtues
Ancient China — Pilgrimages, Not Sprints · The Steadfast Soul
Ancient Greece — The Practice of Becoming
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry — Looking Outward Together
Applause of Heaven — The Worthwhile Arrival
Attention — The Gift of the Present Gaze
Authenticity — The Practice of Becoming
B
Beauty in suffering — Beautiful and Terrible
Blessing others — A Blessing, Not a Beggar
Booker T. Washington — The Measure of the Climb
Brothers Karamazov — The Cost of the Real Thing
C
C.S. Lewis — — The Lamp Within — · The Same Person in Every Room · Never Too Old to Dream
Character — The Same Person in Every Room
Charity — The Only Hunger That Never Ends
Charles Dickens — Go On in Hope
Christian encouragement — The Worthwhile Arrival
Civil War era — The Measure of the Climb
Come Sit a While devotional — The Price of a Day — Warren Buffett
Companionship — An Honest Friend
Compassion — The Cost of the Real Thing
Confucius — Pilgrimages, Not Sprints · The Steadfast Soul
Courage — Beautiful and Terrible · The Measure of the Climb · The Courage to Begin · The Lord Can Work with Motion · The Quiet Voice · Not to Speak Is to Speak · Great Necessities Call Out Great Virtues · June 29–July 5: “If the Lord Be God, Follow Him” 1 Kings 12–13; 17–22
Courage to continue — The Courage to Continue
D
Daily kindness — The Only Reason — George Eliot
Defiance — — Seizing Fate —
Devotional — What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher
Dietrich Bonhoeffer — Not to Speak Is to Speak
Dostoevsky — The Cost of the Real Thing
Dreaming — — The Lamp Within —
E
Early 20th century — The Way Out Is Through · May 31
Early 21st century — The Patience of Water
Early twentieth century — Looking Outward Together
Elder Zossima — The Cost of the Real Thing
Elijah — June 29–July 5: “If the Lord Be God, Follow Him” 1 Kings 12–13; 17–22
Encouragement — The Weight of Words
Endurance — The Two Great Warriors · The Way Out Is Through
Enduring hardship — The Worthwhile Arrival
F
Facing difficulties — The Way Out Is Through
Failure and success — The Courage to Continue
Faith — The Good Shepherd Knows His Sheep · Not to Speak Is to Speak · Great Necessities Call Out Great Virtues · June 29–July 5: “If the Lord Be God, Follow Him” 1 Kings 12–13; 17–22 · Our Eyes are Upon Thee · Our Eyes are Upon Thee
Faith and action — The Lord Can Work with Motion
Faith and dreams — Never Too Old to Dream
Faith and family — The Liberty to Study Poetry
Faith and work — One More Time — Thomas Edison
Faith over intellect — May 31
Faithful service — Seeds, Not Harvest · Pilgrimages, Not Sprints · The Steadfast Soul
Faithfulness — The Patience of Water
Family — The Good Shepherd Knows His Sheep
Family devotional — What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher
Family wisdom — What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher
Father’s Day — What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher
Fatherhood — What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher
Fear and faith — Beautiful and Terrible
Frederick Buechner — Beautiful and Terrible
Freedom — The Last of Human Freedoms
Friendship — An Honest Friend
G
Generational faith — What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher
Generational sacrifice — The Liberty to Study Poetry
Generosity — The Gift of the Present Gaze
Generosity of spirit — The Most Worth-While Thing
George Eliot — The Only Reason — George Eliot
Gilded Age — One More Time — Thomas Edison
Giving — The Only Hunger That Never Ends
Grace — The Good Shepherd Knows His Sheep · Our Eyes are Upon Thee · Our Eyes are Upon Thee
Gratitude — Go On in Hope
H
Happiness — The Most Worth-While Thing
Henry Miller — The Only Hunger That Never Ends
Henry Ward Beecher — What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher
Hidden acts of goodness — The Only Reason — George Eliot
Honesty — An Honest Friend
Hope — — The Lamp Within — · Go On in Hope · The Courage to Begin · Never Too Old to Dream · The Quiet Voice
Hope in suffering — The Worthwhile Arrival
Humility — The Edge of What We Know
I
Independence Day — The Liberty to Study Poetry
Inner strength — — Seizing Fate —
Integrity — The Same Person in Every Room
Intentional living — The Price of a Day — Warren Buffett
J
James N. Watkins — The Patience of Water
John Adams — The Liberty to Study Poetry
John Keats — The Vale of Soul-Making
Joseph Joubert — The Evening Brings Its Lamps
Journey and arrival — The Worthwhile Arrival
K
Kindness — The Weight of Words
L
Learning — The Edge of What We Know
Legacy — The Measure of the Climb · What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher · Not to Speak Is to Speak · The Evening Brings Its Lamps · The Liberty to Study Poetry
Legacy and priorities — The Price of a Day — Warren Buffett
Leo Tolstoy — The Two Great Warriors
Liberty — The Liberty to Study Poetry
Love — The Only Hunger That Never Ends
Love in action — The Cost of the Real Thing
Ludwig van Beethoven — — Seizing Fate —
M
Making life easier — The Only Reason — George Eliot
Marriage — Looking Outward Together
Mary Anne Radmacher — The Quiet Voice
Max Lucado — The Worthwhile Arrival
Mid-20th century — A Blessing, Not a Beggar
Mid-twentieth century — — The Lamp Within — · Never Too Old to Dream
Middlemarch wisdom — The Only Reason — George Eliot
Midyear reflection — The Courage to Continue
Missionary work — The Good Shepherd Knows His Sheep
Mother Teresa — The Weight of Words
N
Nelson Mandela — The Courage to Begin
Never give in — The Courage to Continue
New beginnings — — The Lamp Within — · Never Too Old to Dream · The Lord Can Work with Motion
Numbering our days — The Price of a Day — Warren Buffett
O
Obedience — May 31
Old Testament era — June 29–July 5: “If the Lord Be God, Follow Him” 1 Kings 12–13; 17–22
Oswald Chambers — May 31
P
Parable of the ten virgins — The Evening Brings Its Lamps
Parenting — What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher
Partnership — Looking Outward Together
Patience — The Two Great Warriors · Seeds, Not Harvest · The Patience of Water
Perseverance — Go On in Hope · The Way Out Is Through · The Measure of the Climb · — Seizing Fate — · The Courage to Begin · Seeds, Not Harvest · Pilgrimages, Not Sprints · The Steadfast Soul · The Quiet Voice · One More Time — Thomas Edison · The Courage to Continue · Great Necessities Call Out Great Virtues
Perseverance in faith — The Worthwhile Arrival
Persistence — The Patience of Water · One More Time — Thomas Edison
Posterity — What Posterity Hears — Henry Ward Beecher
Prayer — A Blessing, Not a Beggar · June 29–July 5: “If the Lord Be God, Follow Him” 1 Kings 12–13; 17–22 · Our Eyes are Upon Thee · Our Eyes are Upon Thee
Preparation — The Evening Brings Its Lamps
Presence — The Gift of the Present Gaze
Q
Quiet faithfulness — The Steadfast Soul
Quiet legacy — Pilgrimages, Not Sprints
R
Resilience — The Last of Human Freedoms
Robert Baden-Powell — The Most Worth-While Thing
Robert Frost — The Way Out Is Through
Robert Louis Stevenson — Seeds, Not Harvest · An Honest Friend
Romantic era — — Seizing Fate —
S
Service — A Blessing, Not a Beggar · The Most Worth-While Thing · The Cost of the Real Thing
Service and compassion — The Only Reason — George Eliot
Shared purpose — Looking Outward Together
Simone Weil — The Gift of the Present Gaze
Socrates — The Practice of Becoming
Soul formation — The Vale of Soul-Making
Speech and language — The Weight of Words
Spencer W. Kimball — A Blessing, Not a Beggar
Spiritual formation — The Same Person in Every Room
Spiritual practice — The Practice of Becoming
Spiritual understanding — May 31
Suffering — The Last of Human Freedoms
Suffering and purpose — The Vale of Soul-Making
T
Thomas Edison — One More Time — Thomas Edison
Time and purpose — The Price of a Day — Warren Buffett
Trials of faith — The Vale of Soul-Making
Trust in God’s timing — The Two Great Warriors
Twentieth century — The Only Hunger That Never Ends
V
Vale of soul-making — The Vale of Soul-Making
Victorian — Go On in Hope
Victorian era — Seeds, Not Harvest · An Honest Friend
Viktor Frankl — The Last of Human Freedoms
Virtue — The Practice of Becoming
Voltaire — The Edge of What We Know
W
Warren Buffett wisdom — The Price of a Day — Warren Buffett
Weakness — Our Eyes are Upon Thee · Our Eyes are Upon Thee
Well-spent life — The Evening Brings Its Lamps
Winston Churchill — The Courage to Continue
Wisdom — The Edge of What We Know
World War II era — The Most Worth-While Thing · The Gift of the Present Gaze
Z
Zig Ziglar — The Lord Can Work with Motion
Drawn from 50 entries · refreshed August 02, 2026