I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world-present and in awe.

I was raised with no religious training or influence. Except the influence was to be a moral and ethical person at the secular level. And to be a peace marcher, an activist for civil rights, peace and justice.

You should not bring more items and hurdles to the obstacle course.

Charles had once remarked that holding onto a resentment was like eating rat poison and waiting for the rat to die.

You want to give me chocolate and flowers? That would be great. I love them both. I just don't want them out of guilt, and I don't want them if you're not going to give them to all the people who helped mother our children.

My mother might find a thin gold chain at the back of a drawer, wadded into an impossibly tight knot, and give it to me to untangle. It would have a shiny, sweaty smell, and excite me: Gold chains linked you to the great fairy tales and myths, to Arabia, and India; to the great weight of the world, but lighter than a feather.

Where do we even start on the daily walk of restoration and awakening? We start where we are.