“You have to be willing to accept that if you call on this saint for help and guidance, he or she may call on you for challenges as well.”

I keep secret in myself an Egypt

That doesn’t exist.

Is that good or bad? I don’t know. –Rumi

“I love this process of searching because oftentimes, we end up finding what we’re looking for but not in the way that we imagined when we started the process—not how we originally thought we would find God.”

“We have learned to accept diversity in the many peoples around us by falling in love with their foods… that’s why I’m optimistic.” -- Gary Nabhan

“We are not exaggerating when we say that we found the remains of the two rooms of Mary of Egypt. This is no legend; it’s reality. It’s a holy place, where the heavens opened three times. . . . It is the most important spot in the world.” --Mohamed Waheeb

“In letting the documents speak to me, I was able to see that the main message is ‘God is love’. That’s it.” -- Carmen Acevedo Butcher

A new podcast from the Christian Century magazine. Season One: the desert, a traditional place in the history of Christianity to begin searches.