CorpsStories 5th Annual Editorial

May 30, 2007

Dear Jesus,

Tomorrow Corps Stories will have been live five years. I thought it was a good time to put in writing my feelings and thoughts about it.

You have put this project in my heart, and like all other wonderful things You�ve given me like a perfect child and a home amongst my own, I can�t see my future without this work.

As I suppose is often Your plan for things, this project is not and hasn�t ever been what I expected Your will for me to be.

The main thing is, that no matter how narrow-minded I am arriving to the table, You redirect me and comfort me in my confusion. I don�t mean to be such, but afterward I see that is exactly how I was looking at things.

Relationships. In this venture I have learned a lot about friendships. While this project seemed odd and unprecedented and scary to me, it is honorable and reasonable and worthwhile to a few, those who have pushed me to dive into it disregarding my fears. Those people are of course my board members, John, Ann and Joe and Alex. Relationships built on such grounds were completely foreign to me. But these people, especially Your servant John, have in their unique ways believed in this and in me – when I didn�t believe in either. These and others who have been Your guides for me in this, sometimes even temporarily, have halted my heart and reset my understanding of love. Thank You.

Money. When I launched, I thought that CS could make money like other sites; run ads, sell trinkets, etc. The ads diminished the integrity of the project, so they had to go. The trinkets just didn�t sell and bothered me as well. Then came months of applying for grants. I became acquainted with some really great people who care about such journalism and some who didn�t understand or care about our mission. Again it wasn�t fruitful and took a tremendous amount of time, but I�m glad I explored it. In the end CS is now largely self-funded from the real estate investments that have always sustained me, which is still surprisingly comfortable. The sympathetic benefactors which You’ve surfaced over the years provide icing. Mainly I can see that the two can fund us over the years without much stress on me. Thank You.

Five years ago I was full of fear and physically and emotionally surrounded by emptiness. Today I don�t have the things I thought would comfort me such as a marriage and a job with a famous publication. But by Your plan, I�m happier. I head a great journalism project. I have a lot of time for my wonderful son and my loved ones. I have a lovely home and an extraordinary garden. I can�t wait to wake up in the morning. I deeply love my life. You did all that.

So, I will continue to spread my arms open and ask You to take it all over, my life, my efforts, my circumstances and my plans. I love You so very, very much.

Meriwether