The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

What happens when sacred stories are no longer just remembered, but lived and retold? Kristian Heal explores Exodus 12:26 and the Passover narrative as a model for intergenerational faith formation. Weaving together story, ritual, and memory, Heal reflects on how Israel’s culture of questions—“And when your children ask you. . .”—kept the hope of deliverance alive across generations.

Leslee Thorne Murphy explores “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” as more than a hymn—it’s a poetic meditation on Matthew 25 and a powerful invitation to see Christ in the people around us. Tracing the life of poet James Montgomery and the historical context of the hymn’s original publication, Murphy uncovers how personal experience, imagination, and scripture come together to create something spiritually transformative.