So much is happening in our world that I felt I needed the grounding presence of Rev. Mike Murphy on the podcast. We read some emails and respond, we talk about prayer, and we take time to talk about the recent suicides that have captured the attention of journalists and the world. Even as we mentioned Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, we acknowledged the many who will never make it into the news cycle. Suicide is epidemic in our society. We talk about the questions it raises and how we can combat it.

Books mentioned today: Prayer by Richard Foster, The Land Between by Jeff Manion, and Grieving a Suicide: a loved one’s search for comfort, answers, and hope by Albert Y. Hsu.

Follow Mike on Facebook. He’s not much of a Twitter guy, but occasionally he tweets @murphsplace.