The Word Among Us

October 2005 Issue

Writing Straight with Broken Lines

The "Heartsong" of Mattie Stepanek.

By: Bob French

If there is someone to whom these Scripture verses would apply more than most, it would have to be Mattie J.T. Stepanek, the best-selling poet who died last year at the age of thirteen. Few people have lived a more fragile existence than Mattie. For every moment of his short life, he was beset by a crippling disease. And yet Mattie realized that he had a great treasure to be shared with everyone: his tremendous faith and courage, and the wisdom that he expressed through the beautiful gift of his writing.

Given how greatly Mattie suffered, it might be hard to believe that he was capable of giving very much. He was born in 1990 with an...

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