I still don’t know where the river begins, or where it ends. I don’t know where it comes from, or where it goes. I don’t know what it looked like yesterday, or what it will look like tomorrow,”Father Dominic put forth.“How the heck am I supposed to see all that from here?” Thomas pleaded.Father Dominic smiled, his body shaking slightly as he silently laughed.“Exactly, Thomas. Exactly. Now, think of your life as this river. If I were to ask you to describe it to me, how much of your life would you be able to share?”This was a question Thomas had never thought about before. Considering his life like this felt strange, uncomfortable.“I guess I’d share just about as much. I’d only talk about the part I can see right now. I guess I’d only tell you about what I know,” Thomas offered.

She shared how she had fi nally found God, not in the back of a church with hands held in prayer, but in the back of a police car with hands held in cuffs.

The deeper the feelings of unworthiness dug into his heart, the darker the room became. It spread from the outside in, growing darker and moreominous with each new thought. He feared it would swallow him whole.

As he walked, he felt the darkness behind him, following him. He swore he heard it whisper, “Run!