My mother's eyes were large and brown, like my son's, but unlike Sam's, they were always frantic, like a hummingbird who can't quite find the flower but keeps jabbing around.

Rituals are a good signal to your unconscious that it is time to kick in.

I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something Father Tom had told me--that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.

It was not facing what life dealt that made you crazy, but rather trying to set life straight where it was unstraightenable.

My idea of absolute happiness is to be in bed on a rainy day, with my blankie, my cat, and my dog.

I sat down in the sand, breathless with shame and failure. God, I thought, some defender of the weak. Some freedom fighter: Joan of Arc in sunscreen.

We all know we're going to die; what's important is the kind of men and women we are in the face of this.