I'm one of those religious people who are afraid of everything. I'm instantly worried about everything that could go wrong.

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.

I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.

Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.

Dogs are the closest we come to knowing the divine love of God on this side of eternity.

... the reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day. [pp. 65-66]

Sometimes I think that Jesus watches my neurotic struggles, and shakes his head and grips his forehead and starts tossing back mojitos.

Nothing heals us like letting people know our scariest parts: When people listen to you cry and lament, and look at you with love, it's like they are holding the baby of you.

Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.

I thought the secret of life was obvious: be here now, love as if your whole life depended on it, find your life's work, and try to get hold of a giant panda.

Human lives are hard, even those of health and privilege, and don't make much sense. This is the message of the Book of Job: Any snappy explanation of suffering you come up with will be horseshit.

You can't believe everything people tell you - not even if those people are your own brain.

You can love a song, but you can form a bond with an album, a relationship that evolves as organically and beautifully as a marriage.

Because nothing is greater and we have no greater need, God gives God.

I'm not a comedian. I'm an actor who just happens to be funny on occasion.

Beware Okonkwo!" she warned. "Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!

You're not me. You can't feel like I feel." "I can feel." "No you can't. You just choose not to feel or something and everything's fine." "It's not fine. It's just not so bad.

You can define how strong a democracy is by how its government treats ... the child of the state.

Sometimes the things we have to do are objectionable in the eyes of others.

I avoided reality for most of my life. But once you deal with it, it's kind of cool.

Many of the local institutions and politicians and veterinarians are involved in illegal trade. To crack that down, it's a big crime and big names to reveal.