Category Archives: News

A Hero On The Dresser

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A long time ago in Illinois, maybe seventy years or so, my father worked in an office in Champaign-Urbana. It was the end of the day and one of his co-workers was running out the door to a dinner and suddenly remembered that he’d forgotten to pick up some documents for a meeting the next morning. It was a small errand, something that a messenger boy would have done back then in the 1930s.

But no one else was left in the office and so my father offered to help. The man gave my father an address and thanked him and ran out the door.   My dad drove to the address he’d been given. It was small house and the lady who answered the door was a housewife preparing dinner. He introduced himself and she invited my father inside to wait in the living room while she went to get the papers. He’d never been in that house before and he’d never met the lady or anyone else in her family. But as he sat on the sofa, looking across the room into the front bedroom, he saw something familiar on the dresser. He stood up and walked a few steps until he could be sure he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing. It was a photograph of him, in a frame, set up there in a place of honor. He realized it was actually a picture that been clipped from a newspaper article about him and an award he had received a few months back for community service. He wasn’t a famous or celebrated person in the community and it had been just a small story about one citizen just doing something positive to help others. But someone had seen it, cut out, and put it in a frame. My dad was stunned. When the lady of the house returned with the papers he needed, he pointed to the photo and said “that’s my picture, isn’t it?” The lady nodded and said, “yes, that’s my little girls’ room. She read about you in the paper and she admires you so much. She says she wants to be just like you when she grows up.”   Every time my dad told that story, he always ended it the same way. “I never met that little girl, but I never forgot about her. I realized that somewhere out there somebody had decided that I was a good example to follow. And I knew that I never wanted to disappoint her. I wanted to be the person she thought I was. I didn’t always succeed, but for the rest of my life, I tried.”

You know, it saddens me so much to see the news media create “heroes” out of sports figures and musicians and movie stars only to bring them down again, and in the process send the message to the people who admired them that no one is worth modeling. The truth is, there are real heroes, good people, quiet people, folks who just live what they believe, help when help is needed, give what they can and ask for nothing back. Those people are out there and if you know one, tell them thank you. And tell them that people do see them, that God sees them, and that their photos may not stand on a stranger’s dresser, but their good works are remembered and cherished in a stranger’s heart.

~ Martha

A Brand New Start

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I found a scripture the other day that I’ve never noticed before. It’s “my voice shalt thou hear in the morning o Lord and in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee and I will look up.” That’s Psalm 5, verse 3.

And it reminded me of my dad. My dad was not the sort of person who would run around and grab people by the lapels and say “come to Jesus! Repent and be saved!” But people could always tell what he believed by the way he lived and the way he helped people. He was a kind, friendly gentleman and no one ever questioned his great faith.

And one of the ways I knew that he truly loved God was one little thing that he always did. Every morning as he walked into the kitchen he would stop at the back door, the kitchen door that faced the east where the sun was coming up. He would pull back the drape and look at the sunrise and he would say a little quiet prayer. I never knew what he said. I don’t know if it was the same prayer every day or if it was a different prayer every day, but I know that he always stopped there on that little step and spent a moment with the Lord, preparing himself for the day. I imagine that he prayed for his family and for our safety and for my future and certainly prayed that our family would come together again in saftey at the end of the day. And I’m sure it included some words of thanksgiving. It was a touching habit and a powerful example to me. And I’m sure that it came from a line from one of his favorite hymns “Great is Thy Faithfulness”: “morning by morning new mercies I see.” He taught me that every single morning God gives you a brand new sunrise, a brand new start.  Every morning His mercies are new, yesterday is gone.

God has given you a brand new today. So, right now where you are sitting at your computer, whatever you have to do after you click away, remember that God is already preparing a brand new day tomorrow, with brand new mercies, with great forgiveness, and a chance to start over.

~ Martha

The Other New Year… and the Rock in the Woods

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I wonder if any of you are like me, celebrating your own personal “new year” on another day besides January 1?

Of course, there are cultural new years on other days on the calendar, such as Chinese New Year. But I’m talking about the day that you might consciously or unconsciously choose as a sort of anniversary where you take stock of yourself compared to where you were a year ago.

For me, that day is the Fourth of July and it’s for a strange, sad sort of reason. The Fourth of July when I was twelve, I overheard two people I loved dearly talking about me. They were completely unaware that I was listening to them as they evaluated me as a person. They weren’t cruel or judgmental, just painfully honest about my shortcomings. Granted, they also quite generously acknowledged a lot of my positive attributes. But, of course, all I heard and remembered for years were the negatives. And after that, the Fourth of July became a sort of annual check-up for me, where I stopped to evaluate myself and see if I’d “improved” or at least tried to correct the weaknesses that I – and they – saw in me.

It wasn’t until a summer many years later – maybe even another Fourth of July week-end – in the very same place, that I came to moment of peace and self-acceptance.

That year, I was in bad shape, overweight. I’d been dumped by my boyfriend and I was out of work. It was one of the lowest points of my life. I felt unloved, unattractive, undesirable, unemployable, and oh, so lonely. So I decided to really make myself feel worse and I went up to the mountains of Colorado where I had grown up and I locked myself away and just wallowed in self pity and solitary nights in front of the fireplace writing in my journal and asking God over and over again when would I be loved?

One morning I took a walk alone in the woods. I remember walking and crying and finally calling out to God in absolute misery, “What’s the matter with me?” And I picked up a rock from the ground and threw it in frustration. It landed on another larger rock and broke open. Inside, geode.

And suddenly, I had my very own Touched By An Angel revelation except I was touched by a rock. It was like a message from God that said – I made this rock and all the beauty inside it and this rock has been here forever and if you hadn’t smashed it just now, it would still be sitting there on the ground looking brown and plain and ordinary. But I would know the beauty inside. I would still see the beauty inside and that is enough. And I made you, Martha. You are more beautiful than any rock on this earth, and if nobody else ever appreciates who and what you are, I do. Your God. Your Creator. And that is enough.

And everything changed after that. I knew that I was special and unique to the only One that really counts. I told a girlfriend what happened and she shrugged, “well that sounds inspiring but get real. You can’t take God out for dinner and a movie.”

But you know what? You can. I started going out alone if I didn’t have a date. I started writing scripts even if I didn’t have a job. I started getting dressed up and looking my best even if no one else was looking. And you know what? People started looking and noticing a new confidence in me. Even better, there was a new peace.

People like to talk about that “secret” to life where you’re supposed to draw positive things TO you? Well, I think it’s the other way around. Let God show you all the positive things he’s already put inside you. And trust that if he thinks you’re special, then you are.

By the way, you may wonder where that life changing rock is? I left it right there, in the woods. Who knows who else may need to find it a hundred years from now.

Whenever you find yourself being terribly hard on yourself – give yourself a break. Break open that rock, instead! And by the way, Happy Fourth of July!

~ Martha

What Does God Look Like?

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A question to all of you today:  When you think of God, what do you “see” ?

I got to thinking about that this morning when I read this funny little story forwarded to me by favorite high school English teacher, Ann Campbell:

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.”The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.”

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, “They will in a minute.”

Now, there are plenty of depictions of what people imagined Jesus to look like.  I know I always chuckle when I see the ones of Jesus in the perfectly white robe walking along a road in Galilee looking very blond and Swedish and sort of  “spacey.”  From His words in the New Testament, I can only imagine someone very different: a strong carpenter, an intense Jewish rabbi, a loyal and tender friend, a charismatic leader.  A divine presence in human form.

But God.  God the Creator, the Alpha and the Omega.  That’s something else.  When we talk about coming “boldly to the throne of God” it’s hard not to imagine a real throne in a real palace, and yet I know that these are human words for something so huge that we can’t find words to describe or imagine the true experience of the presence of God.  Nevertheless, I believe our hearts long for something to envision, if only to imagine placing ourselves there in that indescribable place of peace and glory.  For me, it’s always Light.  Just Light, brighter than bright, deep and warm and somehow pulsing with Love, and Life itself.

What about you?  What do you “see”?   What do you imagine it will be like to meet Him “face to face”?  Please write back and let us know.  Have a great day.

Martha

Vibiana’s Courage

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Somewhere back in the 1800’s a crew was digging under the city of Rome, and deep in the catacombs they discovered a box with the bones of a young woman about whom we know nothing and, perhaps, everything.

Her remains now lie in the new cathedral of Los Angeles, where I went for a visit last week. It’s called the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels and it’s only been open since 2002 but it was built to last five hundred years.   I was struck by so many remarkable things that I saw there. First, although it’s a Catholic Church, everything about it has been designed to make it the city’s cathedral, a place for people of many denominations to come together and worship. It’s architecture has been the center of some controversy; I like it. It’s old and new and simple and grand all at the same time. The sculpture of Mary above the main entrance, by the artist Robert Grahame, says it all. He gave her the eyes of one race, the nose of another, the lips of a third. She stands humbly and yet with great power, a long braid down her back, with her arms open in short sleeves, almost as if they’re rolled up and ready to go to work to bring everyone together in one place if only for a moment.

But it’s the image of another young woman there that I can’t get out of my mind. I didn’t actually see her. But I imagined her as I stood at the tomb of that young woman from the catacombs of Rome. St. Vibiana. When her remains were discovered over a hundred years ago, there was nothing on the box to identify her except a name: Vibiana, and a design, a sign actually, a half sun with rays emanating from it. A sign that those digging there recognized as a message from the early Christians: this person was killed because she believed in Jesus.

Vibiana’s death has been placed somewhere near 300 A.D. and they estimate her age to be around fifteen.   Since then, all sorts of stories about her have been told; hopeful, encouraging stories, but stories nevertheless. All anyone really knows is that she lived and she died for Jesus. And that’s all I need to know about her.

We are so often assaulted these days by people who mock our faith in a loving and forgiving God. And sometimes the things they say, the facts they twist with sarcasm and wit and bullying, can challenge our faith and tempt us to doubt. But whatever the pundits say on TV is nothing, I imagine, to the mockery and abuse Vibiana must have faced in the cruel and brutal times of Roman persecution. How strong would we be if the words that late night critics threw at us were actually knives or bullets? Well, so far, we are still free to worship God as we choose in this country. And may we never take that freedom for granted.

As I said, the Cathedral was designed to last 500 years. And I hope it does. Because who knows who will stand at the tomb of Vibiana someday and draw courage from the life and the death of one, single girl.

“Signed, Sealed, Delivered” Marathon!

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Beginning at 9a/8C, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel is

showing a full day “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” before the premiere of the latest movie, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From Paris with Love” at 9p/8C.  This is the prefect prelude to the new movie, for both fans and newcomers alike.

To find Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in your area, please click here for the channel locator.  The full schedule can be found here.

Everyone is encouraged to join the conversation online by visiting Martha Williamson‘s Facebook page, the Signed Sealed Delivered Facebook page, and by using #POstables and #SSDParis.

Interview: Martha Williamson on the Expanded “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” Movie Series

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Interview: Martha Williamson on the Expanded “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” Movie Series

posted by Nell Minow to beliefnet.com

 

It was just over a year ago that I first spoke to “Touched by an Angel” creator Martha Williamson about her dead letter detective series for Hallmark, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” She is one of my all-time favorite interviews, making me feel like an instant old friend, and it was a delight to catch up with her about the series’ new expanded format as feature-length films for the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel.

Tell me about the challenges of the new format.

I’m loving this because we have essentially a whole story now. We were doing the series that was originally going to be about dead letters being delivered late but the life of this quirky little group just took on more of a role. People embraced them so much and just fell in love with the two little love stories between Oliver and Shane and Rita and Norman and wanted more of the backstories of these folks and their lives. I would never compare myself in any way to “Mad Men.” But a guy wrote something brilliant about how in that show the characters take on their own lives and you have to follow their own lives and that’s kind of what I find myself doing. We have these amazing characters in these great actors who embodied them so well that you just kind of have to follow these characters and see where they wanted to go. And as a result we discovered that it was so much more satisfying to make movies. And Hallmark had this new Movies & Mysteries channel that they wanted to do. I’m not a mystery writer per se but every letter is inherently a mystery in one form or another. These people are postal detectives, which actually exists. But they really became this little family. And so I found that we needed extra time and Hallmark really wanted us to go to the Movies and Mysteries. It is turning out to be very gratifying. We’re actually shooting one right now in Vancouver and I’m writing the second one, then there is a third one as well. I’ll stay on the set and write the next one. It’s really a family experience. Some of the actors will walk off the set and say “How’s it coming?” and I’ll say “Oh man! What do you think Oliver would do if we were here?” He always wants to do the right thing and I think he struggles. So it becomes this group discussion because everyone so invested in it. And we’re really having a lot of fun. I have to say it’s just perfect for me, too. I’m the mother of two teenage girls and doing a series as you know is all-consuming but to be able to have this freedom of writing a movie and then go shooting, writing a movie and go shooting, it all seems to be working out for everybody.

I was excited to hear that we would find out more about Oliver’s wife, and delighted that Poppy Montgomery was cast in the role.

Just brilliant, she was brilliant. The minute I met her I said, “Oh my gosh! You were Holly and I didn’t even know.” It is like I was writing for Poppy. I hate to imagine channeling because I don’t believe in channeling but it was as if I was writing for Poppy and she walked in and said, “This is my part.” It was just perfect. I’ll back up here having done so much about working with angels, all of a sudden, the thing about angels is angels don’t have to have faith because they know, they’ve been there, they know what’s true. People, human beings struggle with faith all the time because they haven’t seen. What was the line? “Blessed are the ones who see and believe but more blessed are the ones who believe without having seen.” That was the next step for me, was in writing, now how we supposed to live?

What does it mean to live in faith?

And I’m still so saddened when I see so many television shows who depict people of faith as rigid and so judgmental and so legalistic and so unforgiving when faith itself is based on forgiveness. Even I go back to “Mad Men” again in the finale the other night. When he showed up and he talked about Jesus, he looks like a fanatic creep. And it’s so disappointing even now and I felt like, why can’t we explore somebody like Oliver? A nice man who goes to church sings in the choir, tries to do the right thing based on the faith in which he has been raised and still finds himself as we all do unable to completely control the circumstances of our lives. How do you address that?

I know that my father was divorced in 1940 and it was this horrible source of shame for him because nobody in the history of his family had ever been divorced. And here he was getting divorced and it just broke his heart. And yet he was this man of great faith and so how was he going to reconcile these two things. It does finally come down to just doing the best you can and trying to do the right thing and carry on. And so that’s who I think Oliver is. How do I take a show like this to churches and say this is a story about a guy whose wife has left him and moved the Paris and now they’re going to decide whether or not they’re going to get divorced? And I think that’s what really interesting to me is that he is working out his faith in front of an audience in fear and trembling and every day as we are all challenged with stuff. It’s not what happens. Its how we face it and how we deal with it.

And Oliver is not bitter but he also knows what he has to have. I think my favorite line is when Oliver and Poppy finally sit down for their come to Jesus conversation. She tells him they realized how completely different they were. They got married for maybe the wrong reasons and their whole faith systems, their whole value systems are very different and finally she says, “What do you want?” and he says, “Peace.” And she in her sort of hippie, new agey way goes, “Oh that’s beautiful” and he goes, “No that’s essential, I need peace”. And I think he realizes that she can’t give it to him. Peace is not something that she can give to him, he’s going to have to take it. And that’s true I think for all of us, nobody else can give us peace, we have to make those choices for ourselves. And I’m excited about it; it is very sweet and loving but surprisingly honest conversation.

Poppy is just perfect and she knocks it out at the park because she’s isn’t crazy, she does not play crazy person. She just sees it as: this is exciting and something fun and I’m going to write a poem about this and I’m going to go to Paris. And this is a guy who does have parameters in his life and he does want to live according to a certain code and it doesn’t make him intractable and it doesn’t make him judgmental. There is nothing wrong with trying to do the right thing and I think somewhere along the way we somehow confused self-awareness with self permission. Yes we want to be happy but not when it hurt other people.

I love Eric Mabius as Oliver. He shows us that Oliver tries to find the order and certainty and closure in his job that he does not have in his life.

That’s exactly right. Oliver is like a lost letter himself. Once that Holly situation is resolved it opens up to the real painful stuff he has to deal with in his past. So that becomes why did he allow himself to be captured by this sprightly personality? Well because she was so fascinating she took him away. As she says, “Why did you marry me?” and he said, “Because I’ve never met anybody like you, you shook me up and I needed shaking up in my life. But the truth is I think we’ll find what it was doing was preventing him from actually having to deal with some deeper issues.

It’s so wonderful to watch Eric at work. He locks up himself in his room and works on that script for days. When you have a chance to see this show pay attention to his face and you will realize at the end of the show that he never once repeated a facial expression. Every facial expression is unique to the moment; he doesn’t rely on the tried and the true reactions that you see in so many people. He carefully lays out the show and then like the best actors that I know then they throw it all away and let this happen and it becomes so fresh in the moment. He’s great! He’s just great, he is so much fun to watch.

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President Obama Issues Proclamation, Declaring Memorial Day as a ‘Day of Prayer’

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President Obama Issues Proclamation, Declaring Memorial Day as a ‘Day of Prayer’

By Isaiah Narciso (news@gospelherald.com), May 22, 2015 08:26 PM EDT

President Barack Obama issued a proclamation on Friday, declaring Memorial Day, which will occur on Monday, as a “Day of Prayer.” He also saluted the service and sacrifice of those who have served in the U.S. military both past and present.

The proclamation, which was published by the White House Press office on WhiteHouse.gov, has set aside 11 a.m. in every time zone on Monday where “people may unite in prayer.” The president also asked Americans to “observe the National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.”

“On Memorial Day, the United States pauses to honor the fallen heroes who died in service to our Nation,” Obama wrote. “With heavy hearts and a sense of profound gratitude, we mourn these women and men — parents, children, loved ones, comrades-in-arms, friends, and all those known and unknown — who believed so deeply in what our country could be they were willing to give their lives to protect its promise.”

The president added that “their spirit gives us strength to continue their work of securing and renewing the liberties that all Americans cherish.”

“In solemn reflection, we gather — in small towns and big cities, on battlefields, in cemeteries, and at sacred places where blood has been shed for freedom’s cause — throughout our country and around the world to remember the unbroken chain of patriots who won independence, saved our Union, defeated fascism, and protected the Nation we love from emerging threats in a changing world,” Obama wrote.

The president noted that the nation’s sense of gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice also extended to their families.

“As a Nation, we must uphold our obligations to these Gold Star families,” Obama wrote. “We have pledged to them that they will never walk alone — that their country will be there for them always — and we must work every day to make good on this promise.”

Obama stated that “the valor and distinction of the women and men who defend freedom, justice, and peace” would never be forgotten. He made several pledges in his proclamation.

“We rededicate ourselves to commitments equal to the caliber of those who have rendered the highest service: to support our troops with the resources they need to do their jobs; to never stop searching for those who have gone missing or are prisoners of war; to ensure all our veterans have access to the care and benefits they have earned and deserve; and to continue our constant work of building a Nation worthy of the heroes we honor today,” Obama wrote.

Obama added that he made the proclamation after Congress passed a joint resolution passed in 1950 stating that the president “issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer.”

“I request the Governors of the United States and its Territories, and the appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff until noon on this Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States and in all areas under its jurisdiction and control,” Obama wrote. “I also request the people of the United States to display the flag at half-staff from their homes for the customary forenoon period.”

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Thoughts on 2015 Christopher Awards + Movie Review: Could “Where Hope Grows” cop a 2016 Christopher?

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posted by John W. Kennedy

From Beliefnet.com

Here’s today’s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.

Awarding what matters. On Wednesday night I attended the 2015 Christopher Awards. First presented in 1949, the prizes are intended, as Christopher founder Father James Keller said, to honor people and media that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” The importance of doing so really hit home to me when I was on my home from the event and passed a magazine stand. Featured prominently was the current issue of Entertainment Weekly with words “Meanest, Grittiest, Deadliest” emblazoned across a cover celebrating Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. Earlier in the day I also happened to catch sight of a poster promoting Fox’s upcoming fall TV entry Scream Queens which is yet another series about a serial killer, this one located on a college campus. The catchy slogan on the poster read “Pretty Evil. ” I bring this up because in a culture that are “mean” and “pretty evil,” it’s good to have some push back.

As usual, this year’s award recipients were divided into four categories including Books for Adults, Books for Young People, Feature Films and Television/Cable. There was also the James Keller Award which is given to an individual who exemplifies the Christopher motto that “It’s better to light one candle than curse the darkness.” Previous winners of that award have included the likes of Special Olympics founder Eunice Shriver. The night culminated in the presentation of the Christopher Spirit Award which is given for work of particular merit and excellence. With the exception of those latter two prizes, the recipients don’t give thank you speeches — making for a mercifully short presentation that ran about an hour and a half or so.

The event was hosted by veteran New York City anchorman Ernie Anastas. Presenters included CBS News producer Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson (60 Minutes), Newbery Medal-winning author Joan Baur, film producer Carolyn Jones (The American Nurse) and Fox News contributor/manager of SiriusXM’s Catholic Channel Father Jonathan Morris.

As usual Christophers Director of Communications Tony Rossi and his team selected very worthy nominees and put on a great presentation.

Here’s are some highlights of how it all went down, along with some of my thoughts. Click here to view trailers of the winning projects.

Father Jonathan introduced Ernie Anastas who noted that he has hosted these showcases for several years now. He said that what he like about the Christopher Awards is how they remind us that individuals do have the power to make a positive difference in the world.

 

Books for Adults winners (presented by Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson)

Fully Alive (Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux): Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver reveals why people with intellectual disabilities have been his greatest teachers in life, giving him a more meaningful way of seeing the world.

Haatchi & Little B (St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books): Wendy Holden’s heartwarming story of A boy with a rare genetic disorder and a disabled Anatolian Shepherd puppy, who was abused and left for dead, transform each other’s lives.

The Invisible Front; Love and Loss in an Era of Endless War (Crown Publishers): Yochi Dreazen’s story of how combating the stigma of suicide and mental illness in both the Army and society becomes the primary mission for a decorated Army officer and his wife.

Jesus: A Pilgrimage (Harper One/Harper Collins Publishers): Jesuit priest James Martin chronicles his visit to the Holy Land and invites believers and non-believers to encounter the Christ of history and the Christ of faith.

A Long Way Home (G.P. Putnam’s Sons/Penguin Group): Author Saroo Brierley shares a personal story of getting lost on a train in India at age five, living on the streets for a year, being adopted by an Australian couple, and finally reconnecting with his Indian family 25 years later with help from Google Earth.

Mercy in the City (Loyola Press): Kerry Weber documents her commitment to living out the Corporal Works of Mercy, which led her to volunteer at New York City homeless shelters and breadlines and visit inmates at California’s San Quentin State Prison.

 

Books for Young People winners (presented by Joan Bauer)

Bauer recalled some of the best advice she ever heard for storytellers: “Always aim at the heart when you tell a story. That’s the bull’s eye that you try to hit.”

I Forgive You (Preschool and up, Pauline Books and Media): Through fun rhymes and colorful illustrations, author Nicole Lataif and illustrator Katy Betz teach children to forgive others like God does and to channel their anger in a positive way.

Maddi’s Fridge (Kindergarten and up, Flashlight Press): When a young girl discovers that her friend’s family is struggling with hunger because they can’t afford food, she comes up with creative ways to rectify the situation. Written by Lois Brandt. Illustrated by Vin Vogel.

 Here’s Hank: Bookmarks Are People Too! (ages 6 and up, Grosset & Dunlap/Penguin): Lovable and comical second-grader Hank Zipzer affirms the intelligence and self-esteem of children struggling with dyslexia. By Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver.

Hope Springs (ages 8 and up, Tundra Books/Random House): Though an orphan boy in drought-stricken Kenya is denied water by villagers who fear there won’t be enough for their own families, his kindness and generosity leads him to find a solution for everyone. Written by Eric Walters. Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes.

Eliza Bing is (Not) a Big, Fat Quitter (Ages 10 and up, Holiday House): With a history of not following through on her commitments, Eliza Bing, who has ADHD, needs to muster up all the determination and inner strength she has to prove to herself and her parents that she can finish a martial arts class. Written by Carmella Van Vleet.

Comment: Note to producers, studios and networks seeking film/TV projects. You could do far worse than pulling from the above list. On the adult side, I personally think Along Way Home and Mercy in the City on the adult side lend themselves particularly well to film treatments. On on the kids’ side of the ledger, Maddie’s Fridge and Hope Springs would definitely seem to have film potential. I could also envision family-friendly TV series based on Here’s Hank and Eliza Bing. Just sayin’.

 

The James Keller Award (presented by Father Jonathan Morris)

Recipient: Patrick Donahue whose infant daughter’s brain injury led him to found the Sarah Jane Brain Project and its spinoff organization the International Academy of Hope (iHope), a New York City’s first school for children with brain injuries.

Donahue spoke movingly of his faith, including his prayers to Mother Teresa whose intercession he is praying for regarding what he hopes will one day be the complete healing of Sarah Jane. His own advice for dealing with adversity: “Things work out best for those who make the best of how thing work out.”

In his thank you speech, Donahue also cited the Christopher Prayer (aka The Prayer of St. Francis) as providing his guideposts for how to live a good life. The prayer, one of my favorites too, also provides some good insights for the sort of positive values that storytelling — at its best — can help promote.

 

Feature Films (presented by Joan Bauer)

The American Nurse (Carolyn Jones Productions): A moving, in-depth portrait of five nurses whose empathy and selflessness lead them to serve those dealing with miscarriage, aging, war, poverty, and prison life.

 Selma (Paramount Pictures/Harpo Films): Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. faces violence and blackmail while leading peaceful protests to secure voting rights for African Americans.

St. Vincent (The Weinstein Company): A curmudgeonly senior (Bill Murray) who smokes, drinks, curses, and cavorts with a prostitute may not seem like a candidate for sainthood, but 12-year-old Oliver makes a solid case for his neighbor’s goodness.

 

TV & Cable (presented by Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson)

48 Hours: The Whole Gritty City (CBS News): Documentary explores New Orleans music programs that channel students’ energies in a positive way so they don’t become participants in—or victims of—the violence that surrounds them in their neighborhoods.

The Flash: Pilot episode (The CW): Based on the DC Comics character, Barry Allen becomes the fastest man alive after a science experiment goes awry, allowing him to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a hero.

The Gabby Douglas Story (Lifetime): True story highlights the roles that faith, family, and perseverance played in the gold medal-winning gymnast’s journey to the 2012 Summer Olympics.

POV: When I Walk (PBS/WNET): Filmmaker Jason DaSilva chronicles his own debilitation after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 25 as the love of his wife Alice helps him endure.

Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler: Lourdes (PBS/WGBH): Documentary follows members of the military injured during wartime who seek physical, emotional, and spiritual healing in the renowned French Catholic shrine.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas (Hallmark Movies and Mysteries): From Martha Williamson, the creative producer/writer behind Touched by an Angel, comes the Christmas edition of her series about four heroic postal detectives who try to unite lost mail with their intended recipients. In this episode, they help answer a little girl’s letter to God while dealing with emotional wounds from their own pasts.

Comment: The television prizes were more eclectic this year than 2014 (which included impressive work but no scripted fare). This year’s winner included two scripted series — which are, hopefully, an indication that the door is opening a crack for mainstream television that tilts more toward idealistic, well-meaning protagonists. It’s unfortunate that the CW and the producer The Flash didn’t see fit to send a representative to receive the award. I, personally, like the show and, IMHO, a Christopher Award is better than an Emmy.

Michael Prupas and Joel S. Rice, two of the executive producers (along with series creator Martha Williamson) did show up though and I had a very good conversation with them. I had spoken with Rice before. It was during my days at the Catholic Channel when he was promoting his 2007 Hallmark Channel TV movie The Note. I was impressed by how the former social worker deliberately chose projects that uplift rather demeaned. As readers of this blog know, I’m a fan of Signed, Sealed, Delivered. The show, which began it life as a weekly Hallmark Channel drama, currently airs as a series of TV movies on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. The next film (Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From Paris with Love) is scheduled to air on Saturday, June 6th at 9:00 PM (ET). I’m looking forward to it — while also kind of hoping that it resumes weekly production at some point (which, of course, wouldn’t preclude occasional two-hour movie-length episodes). (You can read my previous interview with Martha Williamson here.)

 

The Christopher Spirit Award (presented by Carolyn Jones)

Recipient: The ABC documentary series NY Med.

Executive Producer Terry Wrong spoke on behalf of those involved with the production which focuses on the compassionate work done by the medical staffs at New York’s Presbyterian Hospital, Mt. Sinai Roosevelt Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital and Newark University Hospital. He said he hopes the program helps inspire kindness and leads other compassionate people to enter the medical profession.

Final comment: It was, overall, a great night that brought deserved attention to the sort of quality projects that often go ignored as the media (as opposed to the audience) drumbeats for every edgier fare. How about a Christopher Network featuring Christopher-endorsed fare. That’s a channel I’d watch.

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