Sometimes miracles occur only when you jump in.

Jealousy is a useless, time-wasting emotion that's eating me alive.

The best we can do, to paraphrase Pollan, is to eat whole foods, mostly plants, and not too much.

A loud noise will get your fight-or-flight response going. This, over the years, can cause real cardiovascular damage.

I’m not a fan of ‘write what you know.’ If you don’t know, find out. I knew nothing about the Bible before I started writing ‘The Year of Living Biblically.’ That was kind of the point – to learn.

I don't believe that prayers actually change God's mind - if there is a God - but I liked praying for people in need. It was like moral weightlifting. I tend to be self-obsessed, and it was nice to get out of my brain once in a while.

It comes back to the old question: How can the Bible be so wise in some places and so barbaric in others? And why should we put any faith in a book that includes such brutality?