I am an Army brat, brought up on Army Posts all over the world where the closest thing to religion was the non-denominational chapel on whatever Army base we happened to be near. I announced to my parents when I was 13 that I was an atheist. And I was a committed atheist all of my life. My view was that more evil had been done in the name of religion than anything else in the world.I saw no redeeming value in it at all. Then I met Jon Meacham and we began talking.

No, Jon didn't convert me, but he did convince me that religion was not a subject to be dismissed or disdained. I began reading and studying and talking to people about religion and spirituality with Jon as my guide. My reaction to what I learned was threefold. First, I was embarrassed that I had shrugged off a subject that was so important to so many people in the world, particularly since I was a reporter of politics and culture. Secondly, I was amazed at how fascinating and exciting the study of religion was -- and the more I learned, the more immersed in it I became. Third, I was moved by the yearning for something beyond oneself that drew so many people, even the doubters, to search for faith, especially after 9/11.

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I am sitting here looking at a beautiful picture of my family. My husband and son, my parents, my brother and sister and her family. We are all smiling. We are clearly having a wonderful time. We are sitting at the Thanksgiving table 13 years ago. The candles are glowing, the plates are empty, the wine glasses refilled. You can almost feel the joy emanating from the photograph. It was, my father said that day, “the happiest Thanksgiving our family has ever had. I’ve never felt so much love in my life.” And then, in a prescient moment, he said, “It will never be like this again.” How did he know?

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