The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1)

by Mary Doria Russell

They went ad majorem Dei gloriam: for the greater glory of God.

He had also discovered the outermost limit of faith and, in doing so, had located the exact boundary of despair. It was at that moment that he learned, truly, to fear God.

you could judge prayer worthwhile simply if you could act more decently, think more clearly afterward. As D.W. once told him, “Son, sometimes it’s enough just to act less like a shithead.”

Like we say back home, when you find a turtle settin’ on top of a fencepost, you can be pretty damn sure he didn’t get there on his own.”

the body punished for what the soul could not encompass.

Why, he had once wondered, would a perfect God create the universe? To be generous with it, he believed now.