Doubt always coexists with faith, for in the presence of certainty who would need faith at all?

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.

Pain narrows vision. The most private of sensations, it forces us to think of ourselves and little else.

Whenever faith seems an entitlement, or a measuring rod, we cast our lots with the Pharisees and grace softly slips away.

Whatever else it is, the kingdom of God is decidedly not a call to violent revolution.

There is an "offense" to the Gospel no matter how graciously we present it. It includes the message that God, not humanity, is the ultimate judge of right and wrong, and that the choices we make here have eternal consequences.

Prayer unfolds in the stillness of the soul.