Any life lived attentively is disillusioning as it forces us to know us as we are.

But it is daily tasks, daily acts of love and worship that serve to remind us that the religion is not strictly an intellectual pursuit, and these days it is easy to lose sight of that as, like our society itself, churches are becoming more politicized and polarized. Christian faith is a way of life, not an impregnable fortress made up of ideas; not a philosophy; not a grocery list of beliefs.

The very nature of marriage means saying yes before you know what it will cost. Though you may say the “I do” of the wedding ritual in all sincerity, it is the testing of that vow over time that makes you married.

There are men I could spend eternity with. But not this life.

Pay close attention to objects, events and natural phenomenon that would otherwise get chewed up in the daily grind.

For grace to be grace, it must give us things we didn't know we needed and take us places where we didn't know we didn't want to go. As we stumble through the crazily altered landscape of our lives, we find that God is enjoying our attention as never before.

It's all so beautiful . . . the spring . . . and books and music and fires. . . . Why aren't they enough?