“And isn't part of your life doing something with the gifts God has given you?”

“We all have freedom of choice. Over and over again, minute by minute. How will you live your life? For yourself Or for others? For something good? For love? Love.”

“We are attempting to play God, when maybe God put ushere in the first place.” Father Tomas’s words by the stream came back to me. I could see his stick in theriver, the water dividing on either side. “We can only move forward with what we have been given. Negotiatethe river of life. Of time. And we’ve been given this,” I pleaded, waving at our circle. “Family. Love. Joy. Life.Can we not embrace it, for as long as we have it? Isn’t it what we all most dearly want, deep down?”

“God calls us to life, to love, to healing. We merely have to find our way home.”

“I believe it is always possible to draw closer to our Lord, whether it be during times of suffering or during times of celebration. It is all life, and all of life comes from God.”

“I believe this country has already been painted by the hand of God. We can cover it over with our own creations, but it will merely mar what is already perfect”

“If I live in fear of what might be, how can I truly live my life to the full in the present? And if I do not give myself to the day, to hope, to life, what do I miss?”