I love being alone. I learned that from my father, I think, who loved his own company.

I'm leaving out some of the hugely successful megachurches, of which I have very little experience.

In a world where faith is often construed as a way of thinking, bodily practices remind the willing that faith is a way of life

I read more widely. I made friends more widely. I wore more red. I stayed home on Sundays. I did things that were never in the realm of possible things to do before. That was a real desert experience for me.

I have learned to prize holy ignorance more highly than religious certainty and to seek companions who have arrived at the same place. We are a motley crew, distinguished not only by our inability to explain ourselves to those who are more certain of their beliefs than we are but in many cases by our distance from the centers of our faith communities as well.

Divine reality is not way up in the sky somewhere; it is readily available in the encounters of everyday life, which make hash of my illusions that I can control the ways God comes to me.

The only real difference between Anxiety and Excitement was my willingness to let go of Fear.