Several years ago, Dr. David Crawford of Princeton Seminary shared this heartwarming story with me about Albert Einstein. Professor Einstein lived in the neighborhood surrounding the seminary, and Crawford often saw him on walks, and even in Miller Chapel for services. No one ever expected, however, to receive a gift from Einstein one evening just before Christmas.

Listen to the story at Anchor.fm/rebeccapricejanney

The eldest among us, “the Greatest Generation,” remembers December 7, 1941 the way the rest of us recall the devastating events of 9.11, where they were, what they were doing when they got the news. They knew life would never be the same for them, their family, or friends.

Do you have any personal connection to “the date that will live in infamy?”

Here’s the story of that fateful day: Anchor.fm/rebeccapricejanney

When General Washington’s exhausted troops arrived at Valley Forge on December 19, 1777 in bitter cold and snow, the Continental Army’s situation was desperate. A few days later, the commander-in-chief wrote to President of Congress Henry Laurens, “I am now convinced beyond a doubt that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place in that line, this Army must inevitably be reduced to one or other of these three things. Starve, dissolve or disperse.”

I tell the story of what happened in that crucible of the American Revolution in this week's podcast:

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Today marks the 155th anniversary of one of American history’s greatest, and shortest, speeches. Maybe part of its greatest is due to its brevity! In today’s podcast I share a story about the event which you may not have heard before. Anchor.fm/rebeccapricejanney

Have you ever been to the Gettysburg battlefield? I have, and what a moving experience it is. I also had “skin in the game”—my two times great grandfather was there, with the Pennsylvania 153rd. I salute you, Israel Kocher!

Can you recite the first line of the Gettysburg Address from memory?

When did your family come to America? Maybe you're like mine, one side more recent (1910s), the other, stretching back to the 1620s. Although my ancestors missed the boat, the Mayflower that is, they arrived within a couple years of that vaunted company. Here, I celebrate the fortitude and faith of those Pilgrims.

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