Mankind cannot suffer anywhere without it bringing sorrow to other hearts.

He must be suffering, too. She had noted the weary sag of his shoulders, the quivering lips, the tear- filled eyes. Somehow she had never thought of him as hurting- of being capable of understanding how she felt.

When they were done, the stones lay heaped upon the still form. The crowd dispersed like crows flying from empty bones. The elders picked up their robes and walked away. The mob was now silent. No one met the gaze of his neighbor. They drifted away, until only Ezra stood at one side, Saul on the other.

The work in Iraq is difficult and it is dangerous. Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying, and the suffering is real.

I used to let other people's struggles affect my happiness. If they weren't happy, there was no way I was going to be happy. The opposite was also true: If I wasn't happy, I didn't want anyone around me to be happy.

Lonely, ain't it? Yes, but my lonely is mine. Now your lonely is somebody else's. Made by somebody else and handed to you. Ain't that something? A secondhand lonely.

Some people think the theists get off easy by offering eternal life, but in my experience it is awfully difficult to reconcile the death of a child with the idea of a loving God. As a Christian, I knew what to say, but I don't think my words made much of a difference. What mattered most was just being there and sharing the hurt.

had thought she and her sisters would celebrate it together at the Whitmans'. Perhaps they might have even heard from their uncle by then. There wouldn't have been gifts to exchange, but they would have

Seeing his eyes glisten with unshed tears, Hannah reached out to take hold of his hand. She felt her breath catch as he tightened his fingers over hers.

I'd rather go through life feeling everything in all its intensity than feeling nothing whatsoever." Faith

have no idea what it's about." She squeezed his hand

You have to be able to see things from the user's point of view.