The societal scourge of spousal, child and elder abuse has grown at an alarming rate over the past couple decades. Violence among family members fills our news headlines as the lives of men, women, and children are being ravaged by an often secret epidemic…domestic violence. How severe is domestic violence in our modern "civilized" world? Is there a way of escape from its oftentimes deadly consequences?

A friend of mine fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. As an 18-year-old American soldier, he joined his comrades in facing incoming artillery shells exploding all around them. My friend told me, "There were no atheists there that day. The men were trying to remember all their childhood prayers in that frightening attack."

Some folks go through life singing, no matter what their circumstances. Such was a friend of mine, a little lady named Elsie, who died May 8, 2009 at the age of 95. One of the last things she did was to sing a hymn with her friends at her nursing home.

On May 26, 2006—high on the north slope of Mount Everest—climbing guide Daniel Mazur, of Olympia, Washington, was faced with a life-or-death decision. He was climbing toward the summit of Everest when he and his party encountered a most unusual sight. "Mazur, his two clients and a Sherpa guide were just two hours from the 29,035-foot peak… when they came across 50-year-old Lincoln Hall, who was left a day earlier when his own guides believed he was dead.

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 24, one can find the story of Jesus, after His resurrection, joining two others traveling to a village named Emmaus, which was located some seven miles outside of Jerusalem.