Reports coming out of Syria describe the desperation of people trapped in the besieged city of Aleppo. One young man who posted videos of the death and destruction occurring in the city said in a clearly worried voice, “I can’t see what is happening in street, but I hear bombs approaching… There is no safe building left. Possible that we (will be) exposed to bombing any moment” (USA Today, December 13, 2016).

Church attendance in Western “Christian” nations has been falling steadily for decades. In America, less than 20 percent of the population now attends church each week (Statistics and Reasons for Church Decline, Richard Krejar) and in England, less than 2 percent of the population attends church each week (The Guardian, January12, 2016).

“Italy and the eurozone have been thrown into uncertainty after Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation following a crushing defeat of his constitutional reform in a referendum on Sunday... Italians rejected Renzi’s reforms by 60 percent to 40 percent and handed a major political win for the anti-euro, populist Five Star Movement” (EU Observer, December 5, 2016).

The Associated Press headline reads starkly, “No More Room for the Dead as Syria’s Aleppo Is Crushed” (December 4, 2016). According to the AP report, “Dignity in death has been lost as the rebel-held enclave that has held out for four years collapses… U.N.

A young couple anxiously anticipates the birth of their second child. However, not long after she was born it was evident that something was terribly wrong. After examinations, she was diagnosed with a severe form of cerebral palsy. Another family prepares to care for their young adult son who was paralyzed with brain injury after a freak accident. They face years of physical therapy and daily care. And, a daughter decides to oversee her widowed mother’s care upon learning of her mother’s declining health due to osteoporosis and the beginnings of senility.