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.

I've come to see conspiracy theories as the refuge of those who have lost their natural curiosity and ability to cope with change.

Only Christ could have brought us all together, in this place, doing such absurd but necessary things.

Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine.

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.

But in order to have an adult faith, most of us have to outgrow and unlearn much of what we were taught about religion.

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.