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“A house divided will not long stand.” We are a house divided. We are fighting against our brothers and sisters. Instead of building bridges of understanding, we are building walls of division.

Never before in the history of our world have we needed love more than we do today. We have amazing technology that allows us to connect to each other in an instant, and yet people are more lonely and isolated than ever before—which also makes it easier to engage in the vitriolic discourse that divides us further. It’s easier to en- gage in mean-spirited warfare when you can hide behind an online profile.The growth of the overall disconnectedness or abject loneliness of people during the last two decades has taken on a life of its own. I hear it from callers all the time. Older folks who miss their adult children or grandchildren. I hear it from young people who feel like they don’t have any friends at their school or anyone they can trust. I hear it from young, exhausted single moms trying to make it on their own, and from married men and women who feel completely isolated from their spouses. Almost every person I’ve talked to who ever attempted suicide (and I talk to hundreds of these survivors each year) says the same thing: they felt utterly and completely alone, unable to bear the weight of the sadness from their depression and isolation.

When I travel to developing nations and see small, unfurnished huts, maybe twelve feet in diameter, that are home to half a dozen people, or see houses where families have lived in the same neighborhood for generations, I suspect they are not nearly as lonely as we are in our modern, developed culture.

Our world is in trouble on so many fronts, and it’s hard to be up against forces so enormous and powerful when you are one person, one heart, trying to effect change. Sometimes I feel like a tiny mouse facing down a rhinoceros.

So how do we change the world? The answer: one heart at a time. I’ll start by sharing my heart with you.

By sharing my personal stories and what I’ve learned in my experiences, the positive and the negative, my hope is you’ll start to see the miracles in your life, recognize divine promptings, consider your purpose, follow with prayerful obedience, open yourself to serve others, and let go of things that burden you—all so you may find peace in this harsh existence.

When your life comes into harmony with the Lord’s plan for you, and people around you start to notice the change, guess what? They’ll want to know what you know. So you’ll share your stories, too, soften hearts, open eyes, and change the world with me, one heart at a time.

This excerpt is adapted from \"One Heart at a Time\" by Delilah and is printed with permission from RosettaBooks. If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.

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