We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering we are being kind to ourselves. the truth is, we only become more fearful, more hardened, and more alienated.

Suffering together builds togetherness, and if togetherness is more important for us and for our joy than freedom from suffering is, then God is good to allow this suffering.

As Francis Thompson wrote in his classic poem "The Hound of Heaven," "Is my gloom, after all, shade of His hand outstretched caressingly?

We need encouragement, not sermonizing, and we need clear-eyed acknowledgement of the situation, not a sanctified gloss that pushes us toward saying, 'I see I must not admit my pain because, after all, I'm a Christian. I'll just have to cover it up.

One must learn to love, and go through a good deal of suffering to get to it, and the journey is always towards the other soul.

The sweetness of his longing dives to a tender, bruised place in me.

I want a pain I understand instead of the one I don't. I want a pain that has a beginning and an end, not

want a pain I understand instead of the one I don't. I want a pain that has a beginning and an end, not one that goes on forever and cuts all the way to the bone.

Truth is, instead of fixing everything, the Arcadia made everything real. Camellia's gone. Lark and Gabion are far away. Queenie's buried in a pauper's grave, and Briny's heart went there with her. He's lost his mind to whiskey, and he doesn't want to come back. Not even for me. Not even for Fern. We're not enough.

God is not my personal valet. God does not build a protective fence around my life, keep me from trouble, fulfill my personal desires, or guarantee my success. However, through prayer God offers me comfort, reassurance, satisfaction, courage, hope, and peace.

There was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.

The more you love, the more you suffer