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Faith & Public Life

Where faith meets public life — religious liberty, the church in the culture, and the moral questions shaping American law and policy.

360 stories Updated Oct 16, 2026 Related desks: Travel & Lifestyle

The lead Oct 16, 2026

Mother Teresa's Counsel: Doing Small Things With Great Love

Canonized a saint 23 years ago this month, Mother Theresa worked among India's poorest and left a line worth keeping: do small things with great love.

Robert B. Charles

Oct 14, 2026 6

No Act of Kindness Is Ever Wasted

Aesop's mouse gnawed a trapped lion free 2,500 years ago, repaying mercy with mercy — a lesson Saint Paul and Jesus pressed on us about kindness we seem to be losing.

Robert B. Charles

Oct 9, 2026 5

Thank Goodness for Campfires

A nose-to-nose moose at 12 in Kakadjo, a skunk mistaken for a raccoon, and the pull of flames that connected people around fires a million years ago.

Robert B. Charles

Oct 8, 2026 6

Dickinson, Keats, Shelley, and Blake: Timeless Poems About Hope

Emily Dickinson at 61 called hope "the thing with feathers," while Keats wrote "To Hope" at just 19, joined here by Shelley and Blake.

Robert B. Charles

Oct 7, 2026 11

Good News: We All Win When Christians Like You Turn Out and Vote

Don't sit the 2026 midterms out—even if you live in a blue state—because the nation is counting on you. Here's how we win the November midterms.

Hayden Ludwig

Oct 7, 2026 5

What Is Courage? Timeless Lessons from St. Paul and Churchill

Churchill, a combat veteran and escaped POW, called courage the first of human qualities because it guarantees all the others; fear is a reaction, courage a decision.

Robert B. Charles