“It’s our job as civilians to tend to the returning warriors by bringing them into the center of the communitiy,” says this psychotherapist and author of “War and the Soul.” More →

March 11, 2011

“Patients require that one-on-one encounter, the Samaritan function of being a physician,” says writer and Stanford Medical School professor Abraham Verghese. “I’m convinced that when the physician examines the patient, this is an incredibly important ritual.” More →

November 24, 2010

“Patients require that one-on-one encounter, the Samaritan function of being a physician,” says writer and Stanford Medical School professor Abraham Verghese. “I’m convinced that when the physician examines the patient, this is an incredibly important ritual.” More →

July 16, 2010

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: We had a chance early this past spring to visit members of a Chinese family as they honored their ancestors at their graves. It is the belief of many Chinese that there is an ongoing spiritual connection … More →

July 18, 2008

PATTI JETTE HANLEY, senior associate producer: Every summer, first-year medical students from throughout Maryland gather with family members of people who donated their bodies to science. It’s a solemn ritual, and it helps to humanize the experience for students who … More →

June 20, 2008

Jewish prayer shawls are called tallit. The elaborately braided fringes, the tzitzit, on the four corners of the shawls, represent God’s 613 commandments to the Jews. We discovered a synagogue with a class in which boys and girls preparing for their coming of age ceremonies, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, make their own tallit. More →

February 8, 2008

Observant Jews prepare for Passover by getting rid of everything in the house that is chametz, or leavened. We visited the Orthodox Jewish family of Ari and Shoshana Lerner to see how they were preparing. More →

March 30, 2007

In northern California, Rabbi Alan Lew encourages Jews to borrow from the Buddhist tradition of meditation to enhance their practice during the High Holidays and all year round. Says Lew, “what really makes Jewish prayer powerful is something inexpressible, and meditation really sensitizes you to the inexpressible.” More →

September 15, 2006

“Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, is by far the biggest festival during the year.” says Nguyen Ngoc Bich. More →

February 3, 2006

As the U.S. Senate prepared for hearings on President George W. Bush’s nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, the court heard arguments on a major religious freedom case. At issue is whether the União do Vegetal Church should be able to import a hallucinogenic tea it uses for worship, or whether the government should be able to prevent that as a danger to public health. More →

November 4, 2005