“When a person dies, the earth is generally unwilling to cough him back up. A miracle contradicts the will of earth.”

“....her life would be a giddy crossword, working down from some clues and across from others.”

“Many a night I woke to the murmer of paper and knew (Dad) was up, sitting in the kitchen with frayed King James - oh, but he worked that book; he held to it like a rope ladder.”

“You can embark on new and steeper versions of your old sin, you know, and cry tears doing it that are genuine as any.”

“When a person dies, the earth is generally unwilling to cough him back up. A miracle contradicts the will of earth.”

“How could we not believe the Lord would guide us? How could we not have faith? For the foundation had been laid in prayer and sorrow. Since that fearful night, Dad has responded with the almost impossible work of belief. He had burned with repentence as though his own hand had fired the gun. He had laid up prayer as if with a trowel.”