The Rev. Ed Bacon shares his favorite story of hope and reveals why everyone has their own message of hope to share with the world.

Then, tune in Sunday for his discussion about faith and spirituality with Oprah on "Super Soul Sunday." Watch it at 11 a.m. ET/PT on OWN. Plus, watch from anywhere in the world on Oprah.com, Facebook.com/OWNTV and Facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday.

By the Rev. Ed Bacon

When I think of hope, I think of this story about a retired schoolteacher who volunteered to visit and teach young children at a large hospital.

One day, the phone rang and she received her first assignment as a new volunteer. On the other end of the line was the classroom teacher of a young boy who had been hospitalized and needed tutoring during his stay in the hospital. The volunteer teacher took down the name of the boy and his hospital room number and was told by his classroom teacher that this boy had been studying nouns and adverbs in his class before he was hospitalized.

It was not until the visiting teacher got just outside the boy's hospital room that she realized he was a patient in the hospital's burn unit. She was prepared to teach English grammar, but she was not prepared to witness the horrible look and smell of badly burned human flesh. She was not prepared to see a young boy in great pain either. Everything around her made her want to hold her nose, to turn around and to leave faster than she came.

But something inside her kept her from walking away, so she clumsily stammered over to his bedside and said simply: "I'm the hospital teacher. Your schoolteacher asked me to help you with your nouns and adverbs," and she began to teach.

The next morning when she came to work with the boy, a nurse from the burn unit rushed up to her and asked her, "What did you do to that boy?"

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Looking for spiritual lessons in small doses? Watch the Rev. Ed Bacon's Teachable Moments to get faithful insights that will help you live your best life.

• Move past frustration
• How to build a spiritual self
• Discover the power of listening
• Stay true to yourself
• How to handle criticism
• Watch all of Rev. Ed's Teachable Moments videos

Then, watch Oprah's interview with Rev. Bacon at 11 a.m. ET/PT this Sunday on OWN, Oprah.com, Facebook.com/OWNTV and Facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday.

Are you struggling to let go of the past? Is anger holding you back from living your life the way you've always imagined? Maybe it's time to try a little forgiveness. The Rev. Ed Bacon has some ideas on how to start.

Read on to find out how to forgive, then tune in Sunday for an hour with Oprah and Rev. Bacon. Watch it at 11 a.m. ET/PT on OWN. Plus, watch from anywhere in the world on Oprah.com, Facebook.com/OWNTV and Facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday.

By the Rev. Ed Bacon

I have begun the year and the new decade with the power of forgiveness demanding my attention and energy. It is as if forgiveness as a life force is saying, "I urgently need your attention!" Through these reflections, I ask you to let forgiveness claim your attention and energy as it is trying to guarantee you have the best year and decade of your life.

In studying the great spiritual teachers over the years, it has been clear to me that forgiveness is essential to a healthy life. Jesus harps on forgiveness repeatedly. The great psychotherapist Dr. Carl Simonton claimed that the first characteristic in people who are especially vulnerable to disease is a strong tendency to hold resentment and marked inability to forgive.

While these lessons have come to me largely as academic, theoretical understandings rather than through my everyday experience, it now seems everywhere I turn God, or the spirit of the cosmos, or however you refer to the greater power is saying, "It is time now for you to be an agent of the power of forgiveness." In many ways, I see this happening as a movement in the world touching all of us. Everywhere I turn, I'm existentially learning what power the instrument of forgiveness is in your life.

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Curious how religion and spirituality work together? This Sunday, Oprah and the Rev. Ed Bacon of the All Saints Church in Pasadena, California, address this question and more in a surprising and enlightening discussion.

Watch the entire interview Sunday at 11 a.m. ET/PT on OWN. Plus, watch it from anywhere in the world on Oprah.com, Facebook.com/OWNTV and Facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday!