Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom, the good thief said from his cross (Luke 23:42). There are perhaps no more human words in all of Scripture, no prayer we can pray so well.

The world says, The more you take, the more you have. Christ says, the more you give, the more you are.

We have God's joy in our blood.

In New England, especially, [faith] is like sex. It's very personal. You don't bring it out and talk about it.

If you have never known the power of God's love, then maybe it is because you have never asked to know it - I mean really asked, expecting an answer.

What makes me a believer is that from time to time, going back almost as far as my memory will go back, there have been glimpses I've had. Sometimes literally a glimpse which made me suspect the presence of something extraordinary and beyond the realm of the immediate. That's what I think a lot of what my writing has been, my preaching has been - trying to listen to that voice again, to see those moments again.

You can survive on your own; you can grow strong on your own; you can prevail on your own; but you cannot become human on your own.