Raising a child, whether or not it is yours, is like Nautilus of the heart and soul.

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.

If we can prevent just one marriage from disintegrating--or just one child from suffering the loss of a family--our effort will be justified.

Joy – in the fall, winter, and always in the mountains where people are few, wildlife is abundant and there is peace in the quiet.

In some Native languages the term for plants translates to “those who take care of us.

Edify a person in advance for the positive traits you want him or her to have, and you'll find them making a concerted effort to live up to your praise.

I can be just as dirty. I could use my head or my elbows and we can we all dirty.

That idea of escapism... these words could sum up my life.

If you want a career, you need commitment.

A peaceful man must fight For that which peace demands,— Freedom and faith, honor and right, Defend with heart and hands.

The church of St. Peter at Berlin, notwithstanding the total difference between them in the style of building, appears in some respects to have a great resemblance to St. Paul's in London.

Women when they marry buy a cat in the bag.