“I saw a butterfly,” my mother said with a shy smile. It was the first time I’d seen her smile since my father’s death the week before. After a seven-year period of steadily declining health, he’d passed away in his bed at home, surrounded by his wif

We were only 48 hours into our family’s three-week road trip when the car broke down. White smoke billowed from the engine. The dashboard warning lights went on. “Where did all this come from?” my husband, Gareth, said. He pulled off at the next exit

Whenever I think about the Transfiguration, my mind travels back to the fifth- and sixth-grade Sunday school class I once coached to act it out for the congregation. The task seemed nearly impossible. Why? Because this particular Bible story is fille

I was driving on a dark and winding mountain road, trying not to panic. I had recruited my parents to join me on a weekend business retreat, and we’d gotten off to a late start. Then I’d made the mistake of following my GPS into the mountains. Now he

It’s hard to imagine that Meryl Streep at one point believed acting was not her calling. Widely considered the best actress of her generation, she has received 21 Academy Award nominations—more than any other actor—and won three times. But her life a

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Lihue, Hawaii The dress, a purple-and-pink floral muumuu, caught Shannon Hiramoto’s eye while she was browsing the Salvation Army thrift store. Her great-grandmother, who’d passed away five years ago, would’ve loved it. She’d always worn colorful muu

STOW, OHIO It was Sunday, after church. My two young sons babbled excitedly in their car seats as we inched forward in a line of cars heading out of the church’s parking lot. My wife’s car was still parked; she’d volunteered to stay behind to help cl

I stepped out of the federal prison in South Dakota after a decade behind bars and breathed a sigh of relief. I’d served my time. But I wasn’t just free. I was a new man. Honestly, I doubted anyone who knew me before would recognize me. I hardly reco

I was sitting in my living room, stunned, after returning home from a doctor’s appointment. I’d just learned that I was having a relapse of Lyme disease. I wished I could call my mom. She’d always known how to reassure me. Mom had died from cancer si

Below the surface of Lake Michigan lies an 11-foot marble crucifix. The cross was crafted in Italy in the 1950s for a Michigan family but arrived damaged. A Lake Michigan diving club then bought it, submerging it to honor the many people who’ve peris

William Peters has dedicated his life to the study of end-of-life phenomena. He holds master’s degrees in education and counseling psychology, and is the founder of the Shared Crossing Project, an organization that educates people about mystical happ

Joe and Maeve O’Connell bought land in Kilkenny, Ireland, without realizing its medieval ruins held something unusual. A fact soon brought to their attention. “We weren’t long here when someone came to the door looking for Saint Nicholas’s tomb,” Joe

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, “the little flower of Jesus,” was a nun, writer and mystic. She felt the presence of God in mysterious happenings throughout her life, most notably during her sudden healing from a life-threatening childhood illness. She ent

It was December 2012, a week before Christmas. I was sitting alone at my kitchen table in Missouri, watching the hands of my Christmas clock tick toward the hour. I was waiting to hear it play “Silent Night,” which it did every night at 11 o’clock. T

RAINSVILLE, ALABAMA I couldn’t even sort through the first box of our dog Bama’s toys without bursting into tears. My husband, Alan, found me sitting on the floor in our utility room, clutching our late boxer’s favorite squeaky. He gently pulled me t

LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA It was a sunny October day. My husband, Anthony, and I sat with our three kids—Ella, seven; Luca, five; and Zoe, two—as they drew with sidewalk chalk in the driveway. The whole family was enjoying the last bit of nice weather

I WAS AT THE ENTRY OF Battery Park’s Labyrinth of Contemplation in New York City. A winding pathway of rocks and grass stretched out before me. After studying labyrinths for weeks, I wanted to try one. I’d learned that these fantastical, circuitous p

There are more than 2 million members of Alcoholics Anonymous. I am one of them. And although our fellowship is, in fact, anonymous, I sometimes wonder who else around me is a friend of Bill, as we say, referring to AA cofounder Bill Wilson. We membe

In 1910, Howard Thurman’s mother took him to observe Halley’s Comet. The future theologian, civil rights leader, mystic, author and educator, then 11 years old, asked what would happen if the comet fell to earth. “Nothing will happen to us, Howard,”

When I arrive at the scene, the old frame house on Chicago’s South Side is burning furiously. Smoke and embers dance crazily in the windy winter night. I give the order to unroll the hoses and then dash madly inside. I pull out three people and admin