Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th century invention and I don't want one.

And if I remain in the dark about our purpose here, and the meaning of eternity, I have nevertheless arrived at an understanding of a few more modest truths: Most of us fear death. Most of us yearn to comprehend how we got here, and why-- which is to say, most of us ache to know the love of our creator. And we will no doubt feel that ache, most of us, for as long as we happen to be alive.

Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet.

Once you believe that God is speaking directly to you, there is no discussion.

The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything.

There is nothing glamorous or romantic about war. It's mostly about random pointless death and misery.

It is true that I miss intelligent companionship, but there are so few with whom I can share the things that mean so much to me that I have learned to contain myself. It is enough that I am surrounded with beauty.