E-books are great for instant gratification - you see a review somewhere of a book that interests you, and you can start reading it five minutes later.

...music is about as physical as it gets: your essential rhythm is your heartbeat; your essential sound, the breath. We're walking temples of noise, and when you add tender hearts to this mix, it somehow lets us meet in places we couldn't get to any other way.

Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.

I love silence. I seek and create it at every opportunity. I need it to work.

Anything you say from your heart to God is a prayer. But "why" is rarely a useful question. When Job keeps asking God why he has had such loss and suffering, God says, "You wouldn't understand." I always want to know why, and I almost never have a good answer.

I was reminded of the Four Immutable Laws of the Spirit: Whoever is present are the right people. Whenever it begins is the right time. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened. And when it's over, it's over.

If you are hoping to find your self-worth and fulfillment in other peoples' opinion of your writing, you will never find it.