when the felt presence of God was more real to me than the chair I am sitting on;
when the Word ricocheted like broken-backed lightning in every corner of my soul;
when a storm of desire carried me to places I had never visited.
And there have been other times …
when I identified with the words of Mae West: “I used to be Snow White-but I drifted”;
when the Word was as stale as old ice cream and as bland as tame sausage;
when the fire in my belly flickered and died;
when I mistook dried-up enthusiasm for gray-haired wisdom;
when I dismissed youthful idealism as mere naivete;
when I preferred cheap slivers of glass to the pearl of great price.
— Brendan Manning, Abba’s Child
