Dear Reconcilers,

Welcome to 2025! We have moved our headquarters to Georgia! Please see our new address at the bottom of the page. In this letter contributing writer Mike Feazell identifies the best way to cope with life’s challenges. 

When times get rough, there is great comfort in not being alone.

Sometimes the challenges we face can seem so overwhelming that we cannot endure them—not alone anyway. We can feel defeated and hopeless, backed into a corner from which there seems to be no escape. 

This is when a kind word from an understanding friend or family member can mean so very much, like a ray of light, of hope, in what seems like a tossing sea of darkness and fear. 

And no wonder. After all, humans are not created alone. We are all born into a family. Some of us are born into close families, others into broken ones. Then, as we grow, we meet people from other families. Some are neighbors, some are from other neighborhoods, even other states or countries. Some of these people become friends. Some might become our teachers, our mentors, or our coworkers. 

All the people we come to know and care about and spend time with become a circle of love and strength. We humans are made to be together. 

It seems to me that when we pray for strength and help and courage to make it through hard times, we often forget that we already have been given what we need most—in the people who surround us, in the circle of friends and family who love us and care about us. 

And, of course, that works both ways. Someone else in our circle might be afraid, depressed and hurting—in desperate need of a listening ear or an outstretched hand.  

We know from experience that even a simple smile, whether given or received, is a reminder that we matter, that we belong, that all is not lost. A smile connects us to the truth that we are a real, invaluable, and beloved part, not only of our circle, but of the great sea of humanity in this vast and beautiful universe.

It was the Samaritan, we’re told in Luke 10, an outsider to the circle of the nation of Israel, who took care of the traveler who had been left for dead on the road to Jericho. Our circle of friends and family ultimately extends to all people everywhere. 

But today, in this moment, we can take comfort, refuge and joy in the knowledge that we and our immediate circle of friends and family are all standing ready to encourage and support each other in times of need. 

—Mike Feazell