At the heart of all we call our faith is a deepening trust that God’s heart is kinder than we were taught and more persistent than we ever knew. For Him, all comparisons ultimately fall short. He is wiser than the best father; more nurturing than the most empowering mother; more companionable than the closest sibling. “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother”(Prov 18:34). And He offers us, both now and in the end, what family never can—a relationship that transcends our relatives’ best moments and redeems their worst dysfunctions. God’s grace is the unyielding embrace of One whose love cannot be won, or lost, or altered, or improved. Receive the grace you were destined for. And stay in it. -Bill Knott

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