"Dying is the normal mode of Christian existence, a pattern of life, what followers of Jesus are to do not just once but every day, every moment. It is certainly not a problem to be fixed so we can return to "normal," as we were. The choice is always and ever before us: whether we will hold on right here and now to what is dear, to what we know, to the familiar and safe, to twist and bend all of our experiences of God into our own shape, to paint God's image according to our own blurred and sorry self-portraits--or whether we let go of frantic thoughts, die to ourselves, and let God bring us back to life in God's way and time."