Powerful in Their Simplicity

I usually use this column to share with you the stories of people who I’ve interviewed on our Christopher Closeup radio show, but today I’m changing my approach. You see, we’ve got other projects that encourage people to light a candle rather than curse the darkness - and we receive mail about them on a daily basis.

For instance, our longest running ministry is our Christopher News Notes. These pamphlets address a variety of social and spiritual issues that are relevant to people’s lives: from overcoming loneliness to building an active prayer life.  Single issues are mailed out free-of-charge 10 times a year, and readers find they often bring the right words at just the right time.

A longtime subscriber named Marylou recently wrote to us saying, “Thank you for your faithfulness in sending the Christopher News Notes. They transform what is ‘ordinary’ to ‘extraordinary,’ from the secular to the sacred. They are powerful in their simplicity.”

Then, there’s also our annual Three Minutes a Day book, the latest of which - Volume 49 - has just been published and sells for $10. This collection of daily stories and reflections is so popular that people called our office in August asking if the new book was done yet! We appreciate the enthusiasm and are grateful that you, our readers, rely on the book to provide you with a daily dose of moral and spiritual guidance.

Consider this story which serves as our January 1st entry: When TV host Mike Rowe met retired Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills at the Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C., he was astonished at the condition of the man standing in front of him.  It wasn’t just the fact that Mills was a quadruple amputee with two prosthetic arms and two prosthetic legs, but also that his spirit was shockingly upbeat.

When Rowe inquired what happened to him, Mills said an IED in Afghanistan had destroyed his limbs.  Despite that, Mills said, “I’m not a victim, Mike, and I refused to be portrayed that way.”  Instead, Mills focuses on his wife, his child, and on helping wounded veterans adjust to life with their injuries.

On Facebook, Rowe wrote, “Travis is missing more than a few original parts; he’s missing all traces of self-pity. And that presents a challenge for mortals like me…[to] listen to a guy with no arms or legs tell me how lucky he is.  That’s called a gut-check, and I could use one from time to time.”

The power of stories like that even extend behind prison walls, as our friend Sister Rosemary let us know a few weeks ago. In case you’re not aware, The Christophers send free donations of our News Notes and books to various diocesan prison ministries around the country. Sister Rosemary, who ministers to inmates in Chicago, wrote us a note saying the following:

“This week, an older man asked if I could give him anything to read that would ‘lift his spirits.’ I was able to find a [Three Minutes a Day] book to bring him (they are so popular that they aren’t always available)…I am so grateful for the goodies you send. The men love everything I put out for them on a ‘Take if you wish’ table when we have our twice-weekly Communion services. [They say], ‘If it is from The Christophers, it is good!’”

Thank you to everyone who sends us words of encouragement like that. We’re happy that you allow us to play some small part in bringing Christ’s light to the world.

(This essay is this week's “Light One Candle” column, written by Tony Rossi, of The Christophers; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.)

Background information:

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