Quotes from Real Live Preacher

And so faith is closing your eyes and following the breath of your soul down to the bottom of life, where existence and nonexistence have merged into irrelevance. All that matters is the little part you play in the vast drama.

Doubting God's existence is okay and perfectly acceptable within Christianity as long as the person doubting remains obedient and committed to the Christian path.

EVERY path may lead you to God, even the weird ones. Most of us are on a journey. Were looking for something, though were not always sure what that is. The way is foggy much of the time. I suggest you slow down and follow some of the side roads that appear suddenly in the mist.

Fidelity to commitment in the face of doubts and fears is a very spiritual thing.

Forgiveness does not always lead to a healed relationship. Some people are not capable of love, and it might be wise to let them go along with your anger. Wish them well, and let them go their way.

Forgiveness is the healing of wounds caused by another. You choose to let go of a past wrong and no longer be hurt by it. Forgiveness is a strong move to make, like turning your shoulders sideways to walk quickly on a crowded sidewalk. It's your move.

God, I dont have great faith, but I can be faithful. My belief in you may be seasonal, but my faithfulness will not. I will follow in the way of Christ. I will act as though my life and the lives of others matter. I will love. I have no greater gift to offer than my life. Take it.

Love the ones you can. Touch the ones you can reach. Let the others go.

Memory is a giggling sprite and will not be tamed. She takes flight the moment the present becomes the past.

My life is the story of a man who always wants to carry too much. My spiritual quest is the painful process of learning to let go of things not essential.

One thing is clear to me. You cant know everything youd like to know. You cant do everything youd like to do. You cant read everything youd like to read. You must hold onto some things and let go of others. Learning to make that choice is one of the big lessons of this life.

The only comfort comes in thinking about how nice it was to know them, and how nice it was to brush against goodness for a season.

The universe seems wondrous to me, with or without God. It has powerful lines and uncompromising ways. Patience and time sit like sages on the planets, strong and impersonal. There is a stark beauty to all of this.

There isnt much better in this life than finding a way to spend a few hours in conversation with people you respect and love. You have to carve this time out of your life because you arent really living without it.

This is the challenge of writing. You have to be very emotionally engaged in what youre doing, or it comes out flat. You cant fake your way through this.

This isn't good or bad. It's just the way of things. Nothing stays the same.

We think having faith means being convinced God exists in the same way we are convinced a chair exists. People who cannot be completely convinced of Gods existence think faith is impossible for them. Not so. People who doubt can have great faith because faith is something you do, not something you think. In fact, the greater your doubt the more heroic your faith.

You can forget a lot of things, but you cannot forget a womans name and claim to love her.

You can pray for someone even if you dont think God exists.

You can't love anyone until you understand that you can't love everyone.

I believe love is primarily a choice and only sometimes a feeling. If you want to feel love, choose to love and be patient.