Soul
Meaning, suffering, joy, mortality. Some news is about what happens inside a life. These reflections sit with stories of grief and gladness and bring them to the texts that have carried both for millennia.
Pope Leo told half a million young people to just be human
On June 6, at a vigil in Madrid, Pope Leo XIV gave 500,000 young people a single assignment: be human, as Christ is.
The phones came out. The scores stayed flat. Something else came back.
The first nationwide study of school cellphone bans found no test-score gain. Student wellbeing rebounded and climbed above where it started.
A 72-year-old grandmother crossed the stage to a standing ovation
Her grandchildren cheered loudest. The degree took years. The walk took seconds. Something held her up the whole way.
A Mother Meets the Woman Who Carries Her Daughter's Hand
A grieving mother flew across the world to hold the hand her daughter left behind, now living on a stranger's arm.
The Years Moses Could Already Count
Billions are being spent to make the human boundary negotiable. An ancient prayer treats that same boundary as the one thing worth knowing precisely.
A Reputation for Being Alive
Attendance is up and the cameras are rolling. Visibility and life are not the same measurement, and Scripture knows the difference.
She Buried Her Daughter Twice
A mother chose to bury her daughter a second time, in a wooded place where wildflowers could grow. Mother's Day, for many, is the day that wounds.
The Scroll You Cannot Stop
A new meta-analysis of 98,299 people says the medium is not the problem. The person who cannot put it down is.
The Doll Was Made For You
A Wisconsin seamstress has hand-sewn a thousand custom dolls for children whose bodies the toy aisle has never carried. The reels keep going viral for the same reason.
Carried the Last Thousand Feet
Two strangers carried a collapsing runner across the Boston Marathon finish line. Mark wrote down a story like this for a reason most readers miss.
A Mother Mourns With Her Soul Intact
Rachel Goldberg-Polin's new book explores Jewish mourning and her murdered son's spiritual quest, refusing to let grief become ideology.
The Law That Ran Out of Time
The UK's assisted dying bill passed the Commons, then died in the Lords without a vote. The question of who owns a life remains unanswered.
She Refuses to Be Comforted
A mother's memoir on losing her daughter resists every consolation. Scripture says that resistance is its own form of faithfulness.
The Story You Tell About Your Pain
A new study finds that how people explain their depression to themselves predicts how long they stay on medication, regardless of symptom severity.
Who Breathed First
A philosopher says humans invented the soul. Genesis says God breathed it into clay. The two accounts share more than either side wants to admit.
The Fear Before the Famine
Nearly half of Americans expect total economic collapse. The fear is already reshaping whether people marry, have children, or plan for tomorrow.
Eternity Lives in the Heart, Not the Breath
A psychiatrist argues that mindfulness fails because humans are built to stretch across time. An ancient Hebrew poet already knew.
A Fake Disease Is Now a Diagnosis
A researcher invented a fictional illness with obvious joke warnings throughout. AI chatbots began diagnosing people with it anyway. Millions consult these systems for medical advice.
The Helpers No One Thinks to Help
Research confirms the loneliest people are the reliable ones everyone leans on and nobody checks on.
The Muscle Jesus Taught Us to Build
A Harvard study of 200,000 people in 22 countries found that forgiveness, practiced as a habit, predicts psychological well-being and deeper character a year later.
Still Clocked In, Already Gone
A new report finds 40% of burned-out workers are present but mentally absent. The Psalm that named this first called it vain.
Millions Withdraw. An Ancient Prophet Did Too.
A global study finds 8% of people experience severe social withdrawal. Scripture's most famous hermit wasn't diagnosed. He was fed.
A Million Satellites May Silence the Stars
SpaceX wants to launch a million orbital data centers. Scientists say it would mean more satellites than visible stars, rewriting the night sky with the glow of commerce.
Therapists Name What Millions Feel: Grief
Clinicians across the US are identifying a collective grief without closure as people mourn institutions, stability, and a vision of their country.
The Seder in the Narrow Place
Passover begins in mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt. It means 'the narrow place.' This year, that place is a bomb shelter.
The Brain That Preaches What It Cannot Practice
A new study found hypocrisy is a neurological breakdown, not a character flaw. Paul described the same fracture two thousand years earlier.