“You judge the gods by who bows down at their altars?" Ai Ling asked.”

“A plate of roast duck, steamed dumplings, spicy noodles with beef gravy, pickled cucumbers, stewed tongue and eggs if you have them, cold please, and sticky rice pearls, too,' Ai Ling said, before the server girl could open her mouth. "I don't know what he wants." Ai Ling nodded toward Chen Yong.'I'm not sure I have enough coins to order anything more,' he said, laughing.”

“I did not bow down to you, I bowed down to all the suffering of humanity.”

“Every moment I live, I live bowed to something. And if I don't see God, I'll bow down before something else.”

“The only cross in all of history that was turned into an altar was the cross on which Jesus Christ died. It was a Roman cross. They nailed Him on it, and God, in His majesty and mystery, turned it into an altar. The Lamb who was dying in the mystery and wonder of God was turned into the Priest who offered Himself. No one else was a worthy offering.”

“Faith is carrying your pain and problems to the invisible altar of God, laying them down and walking away, knowing that now they are in hands capable of doing what you could never do.”