Weekly Stories Archive

By Jerry Stewart
Listen It was Abraham Lincoln who said, "This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." President Franklin Roosevelt said it this way; "We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way. The third is freedom from want. The fourth is freedom from fear."

By Jerry Stewart
Listen The world is full of people who tell us that something is impossible to do. But, should that stop us from trying? Listen to this story. When Robert Fulton first invented the steamboat, people said it was impossible, and his critics were constantly badgering him about his wacky idea to have a boat powered by steam. So, when Robert Fulton set out that historical day for the maiden voyage of his new invention, a great crowd of critics gathered around yelling, "It’ll never start, it’ll never start." But Robert Fulton proved them wrong. After a lot of work he finally got that steamboat started, and it began moving down the river. So just what did his critics say then? Did they cheer his great effort? No. They just started with a new line, "Oh, it’ll never stop, it’ll never stop." Robert Fulton learned a very important lesson that we should all learn. Never strive to please your critics – because you never will.

By Jerry Stewart
Listen Here’s a question – just how is it that America is the most powerful and successful nation in the world? It’s certainly not our age. As a nation we’re only a little over 225 years old, mere teenagers compared to so many of the other nations in the world that have been around for literally 1,000’s of years.

By Jerry Stewart
Listen Not a lot is said today about the importance of good character and high morals? But does the character of a person play a part in making that person who they are. Listen to this story of two men.

By Jerry Stewart
Listen It all started in the spring of 1839 with a man by the name of Abner Doubleday. He was a young cadet going to school at West Point, studying to become an engineer. And that summer break Abner vacationed at his home in Cooperstown, New York. Well, having an engineer’s mind, enjoying things to be put into a proper, orderly fashion, some of the games being played, especially ball games, the way some were so confusing and without any set rules – it bothered him.

By Jerry Stewart
Listen Over the years of my life I’ve been given the great opportunity to do a lot of fun and exciting things and to be associated with some great people. And, if you’ve heard many of my programs you’ve heard me share a number of these experiences.

By Jerry Stewart
Listen It has been said that peace is harder to make than war, and in 1914 when the world sought peace, instead it found itself in the First World War. A war so devastating it came to be known as "The war to end all wars." But just what happens when in the middle of a war, the soldiers just quit fighting? Of all the war stories I’ve ever read or heard, this Christmas story is surely the most amazing. In December of 1914 World War I was still only getting started. But already it had claimed hundreds of thousands of killed, wounded and missing. As Christmas approached, an appeal came from Pope Benedict to cease fire, but as the news of the Pope’s plea for a Christmas truce was received by both sides, there response was, "Impossible." As one newspaper put it, "A few carols, a little incense and some tinsel will heal no wounds." So the war proceeded on. On the front line, hundreds of thousands of soldiers from many countries had taken their positions, dug their trenches and in between the two armies lay a no man’s land that stretched across almost the entire border between Belgium and France. It was clear there would be no Christmas truce. Instead, there would be only death and devastation. As the cold rain fell, muddying and even flooding the trenches and soaking the soldiers to the bone, it caused a sort of river in that no man’s land that separated the two armies and the dead bodies in the middle began to float to either side. It was a gruesome scene. And then, as the night fell, the night of Christmas Eve, it happened. No one has ever been able to pinpoint where it first began, but there was silence, pure silence. It can only be imagined that during this silence, soldiers on both sides began to ponder just what this night was, the eve of Christmas, the birth of their savior, the Prince of Peace. Then, the silence was broken. Not by gunfire or artillery, but the sound of voices, German voices singing a song familiar in its tune, but the words were foreign. Still, all knew they were singing, "Silent Night." It was strange and bizarre to hear this song, these words, here, but it was compelling. Up and down the battle lines, signs began to pop up. Crude signs made on scraps of board and paper, "Merry Christmas," "You no fight, we no fight." As a group of Belgium soldiers cautiously popped their heads out of their trenches to read the signs, what they saw was unbelievable. German soldiers were coming up, out of the safety of their trenches, visibly unarmed, walking toward their enemy, in full view, shouting "Comrades." The Belgium soldiers were shocked and puzzled, but miraculously, they too laid down their weapons. All that Christmas Eve night, as the word spread up and down the battle line, soldiers from both sides put down their weapons and came up out of the safety of their trenches and met together in that deadly no man’s land where bodies from both sides lay dead. If there had not been pictures taken, surely no one today would even believe. They would say it was just a dream. As daylight came on Christmas Day, this amazing Christmas truce became even more amazing. Soldiers from both sides, laying down their weapons and, instead, exchanging food and trinkets, giving gifts of decorated Christmas trees. Each side working together to help bury the others dead. They even broke out in games; some even played their own version of a football game. It was truly a sight you’d think you’d never see anywhere this side of heaven, but it was happening. When word came to those in charge, at first, it was not believed, but when this truly unbelievable and spontaneous truce was confirmed, Generals insisted the men pick up their guns and fire. But men disobeyed orders. No one was about to fire on an unarmed soldier bearing gifts. For that entire Christmas Day the dream continued, and then it seemed to end as quickly and as unexplainably as it had begun. Some on both sides who opposed the truce found that the recent deaths on the field of friends and comrades were just too fresh and bitter to ignore. Others worried they may very well be an easy target standing there so clearly in the open. Soldiers began to make their way back to their trenches. Higher commands on both sides quickly sent in new troops, those who had not been part of the miraculous truce. And as simply as it had all ended, it began again – the war. That war, that world war that supposed "War to end all wars" was to go on for four more years. Many who participated in that Christmas truce were killed in battle and never made it home. For a long time there wasn’t really much said about this Christmas miracle. It was an anomaly, an absurdity, and a truce during war? But the real question is, "which is more absurd? Peace or war?" we all know the answer to that. But, unfortunately, as long as there are those in this world that make war, there must be those who fight to stop war. But could it be that the magic of Christmas could extend even into war? One soldier who was there that Christmas, 1914 wrote these words: "O ye who read this truthful rhyme from flanders, Kneel and pray: God speed the time when every day Shall be as Christmas day."

By Jerry Stewart
Listen Thomas Edison, thought by many to be the greatest inventor in the history of the world had 10,000 failed experiments before he finally invented the light bulb. That’s not ten, or a thousand, that’s ten thousand…failures. He became the laughing stock of those who knew of his failures. They believed he was wasting his time. But not Edison. Later in his life he said, "Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize just how close they were to success when they gave up." But can someone actually use failure as a tool to reach his or her success? It has been said that the freedom to fail is vital if you’re going to succeed. President Ronald Reagan said, "What should happen when you make a mistake is this: You take your knocks, you learn your lessons, then you move on." That’s so true. And each time we try and fail and get up and try again, we become stronger. When I was a boy one-day we found a cocoon. As we stared at it we noticed it was moving. It was clear that something was trying to get out – it was a butterfly. As we sat there waiting for it to break out of its cocoon, fifteen minutes passed then thirty minutes, but he was still struggling to break out. We thought, "This little guy needs help." So we oh so carefully tore the top of the cocoon open so the butterfly could make his way out. When he did get out he was a beautiful monarch butterfly - orange and black. He sat there for a long time stretching himself out, moving his wings, but he never really moved that much or even tried to fly. By the next day that butterfly was dead. We though he must’ve been sickly. But when we told this story to our science teacher he explained something very amazing. As the caterpillar inside the cocoon is busy changing to a butterfly he goes through a series of stages of development. One of the crucial stages is the struggle involved with getting out of the cocoon, and it is vital to his survival. The truth was this. The butterfly had to struggle, no matter how long it took, no matter how hard it was, to get out of that cocoon. And when we helped him to get out without the struggle, he simply died. So, you see, as strange as it may seem, adversity and failure is good for us, and when we see to it that our children get everything they need without some struggle or adversity. Although we think we are helping them, in reality we’re not. Because if our children never struggle they’ll probably never survive. In the Bible, the book of James, it tells us just how we should respond to adversity. It says, "When all kinds of trials crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize they have come to test your endurance. But let the process go until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men and women of mature character." How true! One anonymous poet said it this way: Looking back it seems to me, All the grief, which had to be, Left me when the pain was o’er, Richer than I’d been before.

By Jerry Stewart
Listen John Chapman was born September 26, 1774. When he was just a young child, his father went off to fight in the Revolutionary War. The next year his mother died. When his father returned from the war, he had a new wife. The family moved to a tiny house in Longmeadow, Massachusetts and John's father and stepmother proceeded to have ten more children. John went to school for a few years but by the time he was twenty he was working for a apple grower in Pennsylvania.

By Jerry Stewart
Listen In our world today we spend a lot of time talking about the great success stories. But what about failure? Just how does it fit into the scheme of things? And is failure good or bad? Does it help us - or hinder us. Listen to this story.