I have learned that my assignment is to write books for people who do not like to read books. I really try to connect with people who are not given to spending a lot of time with an open book. Pay day to me is when somebody comes up to me and says, "I never read books but I read yours." I have a heart for that person.

But by faith you look in the mirror and see a robed prodigal bearing the ring of grace on your finger and the kiss of your Father on your face.

Fear creates a form of spiritual amnesia

The duty of the branch is to cling to the vine.

You can climb too high for your own good. Linger too long at high altitudes and your hearing dulls and your eyesight dims.

If we think that this life is all there is to life, then there is no interpretation of our problems, our pain, not even of our privileges. But everything changes when we open up to the possibility that God's story is really our story too.

Fredrick Buechner kind of loosened up my clerical collar, you might say.