Her Name in the Sky

by Kelly Quindlen

“There is nothing you could be that God wouldn’t love. Your deepest nature—whatever it is—is who you are, and God loves you for it. You are good. And no matter what people might say, you need to believe that.”

“Dad—” Hannah says. “You didn’t have to—” “No, Hannah, I did,” her dad says, breathing heavily, his voice shaking. “Hate like that—when it’s disguised as love, or righteousness or pity—I’m not going to subject you to hate like that. I’m not going to let that happen, honey.”

“I think the most essential thing is that God didn’t want Adam to be alone. God wanted Adam to be able to love someone. To have a relationship that reflected God’s own love. And so he made Eve so that Adam could love her. So that Adam could be fully human. And when he made Eve, he gave her the miraculous capacity to love Adam back. Do you ever think about how crazy that is?—Our miraculous capacity to love? We don't know why, we don’t know how, but our hearts and souls are drawn to others. We weren’t made to be alone. We were made to love. And when we love, we automatically know God without even trying to, because God is love. If we love as he made us to love—if we love with our hearts instead of our criteria—then we simply are love.”