Catherine Doherty believed that stories help us to understand the deep truths about life, because they are closer to life than mere `ideas.' In Not Without Parables, she proves that stories and parables can be as interesting and truth-teaching today as they were in the time of Jesus. No matter how old a person is, or from what cultural background they come, stories are still the most powerful way to get a message across. The stories in this heartwarming volume are divided into three sections: Stories of Yesterday Marvellous tales of faith told to the author by pilgrims who asked shelter for the night in the homes of old Russia, when pilgrimages of prayer, fasting, and hardship molded generations of peoples in the faith that worked miracles. Stories of Today Amazing tales of those who passed through the "Blue Door" of the author's Friendship Houses that welcomed and cared for the poor in the slums of the big cities of the U.S.A. and Canada. Dramas of faith, of conversions, of miracles, of strange happenings to which only God knew the outcome.