Perhaps, in the long run, there is no finer image for the prayer of hope than the trusting relation of little children toward their mother. All day long they ask for things, but the love they have for their mother does not depend on her fulfilling all these wishes. In spite of occasional fits and a few short-lived tantrums if they don't get their way, little children continue to be convinced that, in the end, their mother does only what she knows is best for them.

Henri J. M. Nouwen, With Open Hands