A celebration of Christ's resurrection, Easter marks Christ's triumph over death and, as the Apostle Peter writes, our "new birth into a living hope." It's a time to reflect on salvation, redemption, and the future coming of Christ's kingdom.
In recording his prayers, resolutions, and daily events, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) left behind an encouragement to us to live a disciplined Christian life in the midst of our ordinary routine.
May 16, 583 (traditional date): Brendan the Navigator, founder of a Celtic monastery in Clonfert, Ireland, dies. Some Irish scholars have asserted that Brendan was among the first Europeans to reach America, nine centuries before Columbus (see issue 60: How the Irish Were Saved).
May 16, 1805: Henry Martyn, a well-educated Englishman, arrives in India to aid William Carey with translation work (see issue 36: William Carey).