Time is valuable; people are busy.

Some Christians worried about a faith that was so embracing as to be meaningless, that exalted not the Almighty so much as the American way of life. When civil religion bleached the challenge from faith and left behind a watery patriotism, there was room for concern.

For the truly faithful, no miracle is necessary. For those who doubt, no miracle is sufficient.

Death will never be pretty - its sights and smells too close and crude. And it will never come under our control: it gallops where we tiptoe, rips up our routines, burns our very breath with its heat and sting.

Illusions are the truths we live by until we know better.

While we meant to invite debate about some ways the word was used this year, that nuance was lost, and we regret that its inclusion has become a distraction from the important debate over equality and justice.

On a normal day, we value heroism because it is uncommon. On Sept. 11, we valued heroism because it was everywhere.