And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.īut you know what? We change lives. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.” My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. “Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. “It’s passed from one person to another to another.”Ībout a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”: One antidote is becoming attuned to the divine nudges to express kindness. But his goal is to encourage his audience to tune out the algorithms of fear that fill our phones with gloomy headlines. Williams says that the term “God” makes some fear that he’s going to start proselytizing. During a podcast interview with playwright Father Edward Beck, they discuss how stories can “inspire and heal because they connect us with the loving vitality of soul in each of us, and make it conscious to us.” Mr. Williams equates the process of creation to prayer. Another example is Thomas Keown’s charity Many Hopes, which helps free children in Africa from injustices such as modern-day slavery. Mr. “And yes, there’s horrible things happening, but in the midst of this darkness, there’s always a little flicker of light.”He cites how the husband of an editor of his book flew with ex-servicemen to Poland, loaded a truck with medical equipment, and drove into Ukraine to teach civilians battlefield triage. His new podcast and a forthcoming book focus on glimpses of God in everyday life.“I’m talking about moments of grace, tenderness, unexpected compassion,” Mr.

He’s launched a multimedia project titled “Glimpses,” a counterpoint to the darkness in the news. Williams felt a divine nudge to quit Hollywood. The ensuing sitcom was “Home Improvement.”More recently, Mr. it will be a top 10 show.” The comic was Tim Allen. An inner voice told him, “Do this show with this man. During Matt Williams’ career in television, he often heeded “a divine nudge.” The writer, who got his start at “The Cosby Show” and later co-created “Roseanne,” recalls lunching with a Canadian comedian.

The innocent by david baldacci