We are a nation that accords greater status to the movie stars who entertain our children than to the school teachers who educate them. This America of ours, of neon and asphalt, of strip malls and e-baying, of fast food and sitcoms and "reality" shows, does not readily lend itself to the kind of introspection that draws us closer to God. So on a given day we might, say, find ourselves in a hospital or a synagogue, a mosque or maybe a prison or a food pantry, and be moved to tears by an act of breathtaking kindness in which God's love peeks through the pollutions of everyday life.
— Erik Kolbell, Were You There?