The Bullet and the Prize | October 14

Two men. Two October fourteenths. Fifty-two years apart. One was struck by an assassin’s bullet. The other received the world's most prestigious peace prize. Both would leave an extraordinary mark on history.

On October 14, 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest while campaigning in Milwaukee. A folded speech manuscript and a steel eyeglass case helped slow the bullet. Remarkably, Roosevelt insisted on delivering his speech anyway.

On October 14, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. was resting in an Atlanta hospital when a telephone call from his wife, Coretta, brought astonishing news: he had won the Nobel Peace Prize. Less than four years later, King would fall to an assassin's bullet in Memphis.

In this episode of Moments Almanac, we explore the unpredictable intersections of violence, honor, courage, and perseverance. Two remarkable lives remind us that we cannot control every chapter of our story, but we can choose what we stand for with the time we're given.

We cannot always determine how long our voices will be heard. But we can make certain we have something worth saying.

Moments Almanac — Finding meaning in the moments that made history.

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Thirty-three men. Sixty-nine days. Nearly half a mile beneath the earth.

On August 5, 2010, a massive collapse at Chile's San José Mine trapped 33 miners deep beneath the Atacama Desert. For 17 days, the world feared they were dead. Then a drill returned to the surface carrying seven remarkable words: “We are well in the shelter, the 33.”

What followed was one of the most extraordinary rescue operations in modern history—a story of courage, ingenuity, prayer, and hope against impossible odds.

On October 13, 2010, the last of the 33 miners emerged safely into the light.

In this episode of Moments Almanac, we revisit their remarkable journey from darkness to daylight and reflect on the beautiful promise of Psalm 40:2: “He brought me up from a desolate pit.”

Because sometimes the greatest reminder of hope is this: Just because you cannot see the light doesn't mean it has stopped shining.

Moments Almanac is part of Scattered Moments—finding extraordinary grace in the stories of yesterday.

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Patriotism Is Not Enough | October 12

On October 12, 1915, British nurse Edith Cavell faced a German firing squad in Brussels, Belgium. Her crime? Helping Allied soldiers escape German-occupied territory during World War I.

But Edith Cavell's remarkable story is about much more than wartime courage. It is a story of faith, compassion, and a love that refused to surrender to hatred.

On the night before her execution, Edith shared Holy Communion with an Anglican chaplain and joined him in reciting the beloved hymn Abide with Me. She also spoke words that would echo through history: “Patriotism is not enough.”

In this episode of Moments Almanac, we remember a woman who cared for wounded soldiers regardless of their nationality, risked her life to save others, and faced death with an extraordinary spirit of forgiveness.

More than a century later, Edith Cavell's final testimony reminds us that we can love our country without hating another, stand firmly for what is right without surrendering compassion, and discover that even in the darkest moments, love can have the final word.

Because the greatest courage is sometimes not found in fighting an enemy, but in refusing to hate one.

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