This I Believe

No gift, dinner invitation, or gesture of friendship escapes Michelle Lee’s notice. As a dedicated thank-you-note writer, Lee believes expressing gratitude is more than a social grace. It helps her fully appreciate the love and support she receives daily.

“Dead Man Walking” author Sister Helen Prejean says being a good Christian means taking action. So to learn what Prejean believes, she says to watch what she does. For her, that means her work with death row prisoners and with victims’ families.

Legendary radio writer Norman Corwin found inspiration in simple acts of kindness and common courtesy, and saw in them the power to build a stronger democracy and a better world.

This week we’re revisiting some of the essays and essayists we’ve featured on our radio show and on our podcast over the years. Today, Nashville writer Amy Lyles Wilson talks about the ways she and her widowed mother have grown closer over the years.

This week we’re revisiting some of the essays and essayists we’ve featured on our radio show and on our podcast over the years. Today, musicians Yo-Yo Ma, Bela Fleck, Joan Tower and Loudon Wainwright III talk about their beliefs in the creative process.

As a hospice volunteer, Mary Cook shares in the grief of others. But it was her own loss that taught her how to heal. She believes that recovering from grief requires not a battle, but surrender.

Growing up, Anna Whites moved many times, living in exotic places all around the world, but she never quite felt that she belonged in any one place. Later, when she married a man from eastern Kentucky, she found a place—and a people—where she finally knew she was home.

Janet Jayne has been a "step-something" for most of her life—a step-daughter, a step-sister, a step-mother. And while she recognizes the struggles that are often a part of "blending" families, she also celebrates the love that brings new families together.

As an attorney, William Holston made it a priority to volunteer his legal services to help refugees who were seeking religious and political asylum in the U.S. One particular client helped Holston see that service to others is a privilege—and a path to greatness.

It was a sad day when Jay Hasheider helped his son pack and get ready to move away to college. But one moment of joy amidst the sadness was a gift for both father and son.

If you think a Manhattan consulting job is stressful, try farming. Tim Stark has done both. He believes a reasonable amount of stress brings out his best qualities. It also produces tasty tomatoes.

Lex Urban: Finding Out What’s Under Second Base

In spite of his successful career as a science fiction writer, Robert Heinlein's beliefs are more down to earth. Mr. Heinlein believed in the decency of his neighbors, and the future of the human race.

Zac Broken Rope has German ancestors on his mother's side of the family and a Native American heritage on his father's. But he grew up feeling that he didn't belong to either culture—until a family member taught him a lesson about his identity.

A childhood experience on a playground taught Tori Murden McClure a lesson about the importance of love and friendship that has stuck with her through the years and helped inspire her life's work.