I say this with care, but I wonder if a fierce, insistent desire for a miracle - even a physical healing - sometimes betrays a lack of faith rather than an abundance of it. When yearning for a miraculous resolution to a problem, do we make our loyalty to God contingent on whether he reveals himself yet again in the seen world?

I never see God. I seldom run into visual clues that remind me of God unless I am looking. The act of looking, the pursuit itself, makes possible the encounter. For this reason, Christianity has always insisted that trust and obedience come first, and knowledge follows.

Some who attempt prayer never have the sense of anyone listening on the other end. They blame themselves for doing it wrong.... Prayer requires the faith to believe that God listens.

Grace is heartfelt, tinged with love, a spillover gift of the God who extended undeserved favor toward us.

Sometimes I feel like the most liberal person among conservatives, and sometimes like the most conservative among liberals.

Grace is everywhere, like lenses that go unnoticed because you are looking through them.

All of the images of Jesus and of the kingdom are small things: be a light in the darkness.