Parable of the Sower

by Octavia E. Butler

Star Trek was an affirmation of the value of our existence.

A lot of people seem to believe in a big-daddy-God or a big-cop-God or a big-king-God. They believe in a kind of super-person. A few believe God is another word for nature. And nature turns out to mean just about anything they happen not to understand or feel in control of. Some say God is a spirit, a force, an ultimate reality. Ask seven people what all of that means and you’ll get seven different answers. So what is God? Just another name for whatever makes you feel special and protected?

water now costs several times as much as gasoline. But, except for arsonists and the rich, most people have given up buying gasoline.

A lot of small businesses are illegal, even though they don’t hurt anyone, and they keep a household or two alive.

Payne and Parrish. What perfect names they have.

Nehemiah, chapter four, Verse 14: “And I looked and rose up and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, be not afraid of them: remember the Lord which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your houses.”

The people I’ve grown up with are falling out of my life, one by one.

There’s no narcotic like exhaustion.

The world is full of painful stories. Sometimes it seems as though there aren’t any other kind and yet I found myself thinking how beautiful that glint of water was through the trees.