“That's religion in America, under constant revision.”

“Talking with her was like listening to a ballad on a radio station that fades in and out as you drive, sometimes clear and sentimental and tuned perfectly to the passing land, sometimes filled with static, lost, a song played too many times.”

“I read as easily as I breathe.”

“. . . private group prayers were the modern equivalent of a backroom cigar.”

“American fundamentalism’s original sentiments were as radically democratic in theory as they have become repressive in practice, its dream not that of Christian theocracy but of a return to the first century of Christ worship, before there was a thing called Christianity. The “age of miracles,” when church was no more than a word for the great fellowship—the profound friendship—of believers, when Christ’s testament really was new, revelation was unburdened by history, and believers were martyrs or martyrs-to-be, pure and beautiful.”

“GenXers are doing the quiet work of keeping America from sucking.”

“I was willing to wait to have someone like you. Someone who has passed every test, has remained constant and true.”