Everett gets to teach about forgiveness, reconciliation and a host of other fascinating subjects. A personally tragic experience ? the murder of his mother in the mid-1990s ? caused Worthington to examine forgiveness in a whole new way. What he discovered was a fresh priority for the place of humility in shaping one's life

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Since her childhood, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has made a point of trying to put other people first. As the eldest child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, she assumed an early sense of responsibility for what it means to be civically engaged on behalf of those for whom the systems of justice do not work well. One-time lieutenant governor of Maryland, Kennedy Townsend has a marvelous way of letting her Christian faith inform her commitment to stand up for all.

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The life of a refugee is never easy. Fleeing persecution or life-threatening circumstances in one?s own country to find a home elsewhere is next to impossible. Post 9/11 jitters and restrictions in America make the U.S. even less open to immigrants and refugees. Along comes Stormey Denise Burroughs, a young single mother and social worker in Michigan. She takes it upon herself to become the loving foster mother to four teenage boys from Burma.

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Deere and Co., a global giant in agriculture, forestry and construction. Deere?s CEO, Bob Lane, is the mover and shaker behind much of this company?s global expansion. But for all of the airplane miles Lane travels, he is still a very ?grounded? individual. His Christian faith is what keeps him grounded. It is a faith that centers on cultivating the fruits of the Spirit and appreciating the undeserved character of grace.

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To live with chronic illness is to live with the reality that one day can be good and fulfilling while the next may be excruciatingly painful. Physical suffering is not fun for anyone. Among the more valuable tools in the equipment box is honesty. Retired professor Stephen Schmidt is guest on this edition of Grace Matters to discuss faith and his journey with chronic illness. It is a journey whose high points have been marked by honesty.

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Craig Rennebohm is a chaplain who works the streets of Seattle, ministering to mentally ill people. Many of them are homeless. Rennebohm knows what he is doing. He has firsthand knowledge of chronic mental illness and a commitment to advocate for the welfare of those whose minds do not function as they would wish. In this edition of Grace Matters, host Peter W. Marty explores his own up-close experience with a mentally ill brother, and what it means to trust in a Lord.

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Within 24 hours of the Nickle Mines, PA., shooting that killed five Amish girls in October 2006, the whole world knew of the tragedy. What captivated the most public attention, was the amazing capacity of the Amish people to forgive the killer and serve his family. Donald Kraybill, co-author of the book Amish Grace, joins this edition of Grace Matters to explain how honest forgiveness of the Christ-like variety can only be forged over a lifetime of practice.

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Brad and Libby Birky are owners of an extraordinary restaurant in downtown Denver - SAME Café. There are no prices on the menu; there is no cash register. Patrons pay whatever they can or are willing to pay, even if the payment means an hour of kitchen labor washing dishes or cutting vegetables. For those curious about a venture created So that All God?s people May Eat, this edition of Grace Matters is a "Do Not Miss."

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There is a craving for community in our world, and people are struggling to fulfill that need. We may be well connected electronically, but this is hardly the same as being emotionally and spiritually connected. Peter Benson is the president of Search Institute, a nonprofit organization providing leadership and resources for the promotion of healthy children, youth, and communities. He is the guest on this edition of Grace Matters.

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Bruce Weber is a winning NCAA basketball coach. His unselfish style has shaped the lives of talented young men who need more than just good dribbling technique in life. For the last five years he has led the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinoisk, including a trip to the Final Four in 2005. Weber?s faith life is an active one, connected with his local Lutheran congregation. Listen in to meet an individual who enjoys taking the needs of others to heart

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Rabbi Brad Hirschfield joins having experienced his own incursion into the world of "being possessed by one's religion." Hirschfield has made a sudden and dramatic turn in his faith journey. Today he is an important voice for people of all faiths who want to re-examine their most strident assumptions that put other people down.

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Are you tired of trying to make sense of why certain expressions of religion irritate you so thoroughly? Meet Eboo Patel. Eboo Patel is an articulate man of faith who is founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core - an organization devoted to advancing religious understanding and respect. Chances are good that what is bothering, or even infuriating you, is what Patel calls "religious totalitarianism."

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Award-winning author Philip Yancey returns to take a close-up look at the shape of prayer. If you have ever wondered what difference prayer can make in your life, this program is for you. With program host Peter W. Marty, Yancey covers the whole terrain of prayer. He explores that without some genuine hunger on our part to be in God's close company a meaningful prayer life may never evolve.

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Philip Yancey, popular author and reliable spiritual guide, outlines both the reliability and the unpredictability of grace. He walks listeners through a love we had not counted on and a kindness we may not think we deserve.

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Among the top tier of scientists in the world, there is Francis Collins. Having mapped over 3 billion letters of the human genetic code, Collins is an articulate spokesperson for the glories of science. But he is also a person of deep faith who is not shy to speak about the place of God in biological science. Collins offers a clear-headed way for understanding the beauty of science and one's reading of the Bible.

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If Christians are not careful, we have a dangerous tendency to view the Bible as an exclusively Christian book. Wayne-Daniel Berard, professor and author, who was born of a Jewish parent and adopted by a Catholic family, practices his faith today as a Christian and a Jew. He calls on Christians to explore "with open heart and mind" the Jewishness not only of Jesus but of themselves.

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Spiritual discernment is a big deal. It is the practice of wisdom. It is that capacity for detecting an insight into the character of another person and into the preferred ways of God. Join us as J. Brent Bill, a retreat leader who has authored the book, Sacred Compass, shares with us the importance of living with discernment

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The voice of Charles Osgood is as familiar as any in broadcast journalism. Radio host of the "Osgood File," and anchor of CBS "Sunday Morning," he is a veteran in the industry. Juggling long hours and balancing radio and TV, he knows the importance of keeping a deadline. Our challenge is to see these deadlines more as a blessing than a curse.

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If anything takes our breath away in this world full of events we cannot control, it is violence. Nothing cuts to the core of our peace of mind and joy for life like violence. What can we learn from Jesus that might direct us to a better way? Terry Rynne, founder of Marquette University Center for Peacemaking, walks us into the difference between active and passive nonviolence.

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Those who follow the tennis world in the mid-80's know the name Andrea Jaeger. Following a career-ending injury, she engaged in a refocus of her life. Now an Anglican Dominican sister who devotes everything to kids who live with life-threatening diseases. It?s quite a life mixing tears, laughter, and a whole lot of fulfillment.

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"It's not a kid problem," he tells us, "It's an adult problem." Bill Milliken is founder of the organization Communities in Schools, an agency that connects community resources with students who need attention and care. This program highlights the poverty of relationship that many live with, and what it means to believe in another person the Jesus way.

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Everybody seems to have their own definition for spirituality. Rodney Clapp out to reclaim an important place for a more physical spirituality that refuses to ignore the body. In all of its messiness and confusion, the body can be a home through which the Lord of creation, incarnation, and resurrection goes to work.

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Dr. Timothy Johnson is not afraid to ask the big questions of religion and science. As both minister and physician, he is intrigued by the interplay of two worlds that many people find hopelessly at odds.

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Christian faith that does not grow in an individual is not a living faith. Such lifeless or immature faith is certainly not a resource to rely on in the crises of life. Host Peter Marty explores the strange phenomenon of growing many dimensions in our lives as we age, but leaving our faith presuppositions and knowledge at the third grade level. Jeremy Langford, a communicator for the Jesuit community in Chicago, is guest on the program.

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The most extensive preaching we have from the lips of Jesus is recorded in Matthew's Gospel account, "The Sermon on the Mount." Jesus opens this sermon not with command but with blessing. Martha Stortz, professor of historical theology and ethics at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, helps us navigate these blessings of Jesus.

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Stephen Prothero, chair of the religion department at Boston University and author of the book Religious Literacy, has conducted an interesting study of religious literacy in America. What he has found is that while many people have a deep faith and a gut sense of spirituality, their Biblical and religious knowledge is very scant. Join us for this discussion.

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According to Holy Scripture, God built rhythm into the universe. Work and rest were meant to be fair players with one another. Something happened to this rhythm along the way, however. Rest got bumped to the periphery and work assumed center stage. Author and minister Wayne Muller reflects on how effectively we keep ? and do not keep ? the Sabbath commandment. Host Peter Marty looks at the distinctive rhythm of the Christian life.

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Jules and Gedeon are a pair of French-born brothers who enjoy working together. They also happen to be award-winning filmmakers producing the acclaimed documentary "9/11," they followed that up with a documentary on faith, entitled: "In God?s Name." This edition of Grace Matters explores the place of terror in American life, and the role of the Christian faith.

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Otolaryngology happens to be shorthand for that branch of medicine that deals with ear, nose, and throat. Dr. Bruce Campbell, head and neck surgeon at the Medical College of Wisconsin, practices a particular kind of medicine that includes a thoughtful inclusion of his own personal faith. His patients are the direct beneficiaries.

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Hospital chaplaincy is calm and even in character, though occasionally high adrenaline in crisis moments. Host Peter W. Marty speaks with Rev. Stacey Jutila, a hospital chaplain in the Chicago. Jutila brings valuable perspective about play in children?s lives.

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We live in a day when individuals from all walks of life are trying to make sense of the intersection between religion and politics. How can people of faith think deeply about the moral and justice issues of the day? New York Times best-selling author, and faith-based activist Jim Wallis is encouraged by a new movement emerging among America?s religious faithful.

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All of us want to live lives of meaning. No person seeks to drift through life with a purposelessness. Yet some individuals have the gift of thinking with clarity on matters of the heart. Bob Abernethy is the executive editor and host of the PBS program "Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly." He joins the program to discuss why lives of meaning matter so much to him.

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Few subjects are more urgent than the crisis of our planet. Bill McKibben, author and writer-in-residence at Middlebury College in Vermont, is one of nation?s most articulate spokespersons on the environment, climate change and the need for all people to live more lightly. His personal faith powers much of his message.

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Joy Newcom is the mother of two boys, one of whom was born with multiple birth defects. That birth and that child has ended up transforming her life. It?s a hard but beautiful story of God working steadfastly with us through the circumstances of our lives.

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In this special Easter Sunday meditation, program host Peter W. Marty ponders the Easter story from St. Mark's Gospel. He takes a candid look at the Christian life lived in light of the resurrection. If Jesus has been raised from the dead, there is no such thing as a standstill Christian. Believing people must be on the move, open to new possibilities.

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Program host Peter W. Marty takes you from a street fair in Palm Springs, California to the dusty road in Jerusalem where Jesus made his final and triumphant entry prior to his death. Reconciliation becomes the focus of Jesus' ministry in those final days, as he demonstrates that being in a relationship is much more important than being right.

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God built risk into the universe. It is all over creation. It is part of the Christian life as well. Poet Luci Shaw understands life to be full of adventure and risk, with her own personal life as evidence. She joins the program to help distinguish faith from fear, and both from fanaticism.

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Racism can be a tough thing to get our hands around, especially when the majority white culture struggles to even recognize the many unspoken privileges it enjoys. Join our host with anti-racism activist and author, Tim Wise, about our tendency to draw distinctions between people.

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Have you ever felt over-committed, over-scheduled, over-ambitious, over-eager or over-programmed? We "try to do it all" and find that strategy to come up short. In this program, host Peter W. Marty speaks to the limits that God puts upon our lives. His conversation partner is Carmen Richards, national president of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

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Peter Gomes, Harvard University professor and Memorial Church pastor, uses his clever cultural insights, and deep belief that Christians need transformation in Christ, not conformity to the world. If you have not thought about the transformation of your own spiritual life, this program will get your creative juices flowing.

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Eugene Peterson returns for the second part of a two-part series. Here he discusses the Bible and our use of it. Peterson unwraps the drawbacks to our owning of Bibles, our over-study of Scripture, and our reading (instead of speaking) the Word. He speaks with a passionate love for Scripture and the difference it makes in our lives.

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Eugene Peterson, who translated the entire Bible into the contemporary translation, The Message, speaks to different words in the Christian vocabulary. He talks candidly about the power and gift of some words, and the detriment and misuse of others.

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Immaculée Ilibagiza returns for the second of a two-part series on the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. She is the author of the book, Left to Tell. This woman of faith will reawaken the power of forgiveness for all who are seeking a new way of life.

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Immaculée Ilibagiza narrowly escaped death in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 by hiding in the bathroom of her pastor?s house for 91 consecutive days. In this compelling interview, Immaculée gives an inside look at the faith that carried her through a horrific ordeal.

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If you are wondering whether or not to believe in miracles, and whether they might be pointing to something larger, this program is for you. Jim Autry, loving father of an autistic son, has read the healing miracles of Jesus in a way that might surprise many conventional or orthodox Christians.

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Philip Gulley, a popular author and Quaker minister, has some very important things to say about who gets saved. If grace is true, as a concept, a word, and as the defining characteristic of God, reasons Gulley, then it must be true for ALL people.

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For this end-of-the-year program, we focuses on new beginnings. Jerry Evenrud, travels with an extensive art collection of images from the Prodigal Son story in Luke?s Gospel. Evenrud explores the inexhaustible riches of this story which none of us can escape appreciating.

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