“O God,
let something essential and joyful happen in me now,
something like the blooming of hope and faith,
like a grateful heart,
like a surge of awareness
of how precious each moment is,
that now, not next time,
now is the occasion
to take off my shoes,
to see every bush afire,
to lead and whirl together with neighbor,
to gulp the air as sweet wine
until I’ve drank enough
to dare to speak the tender word:
‘Thank you’;
‘I love you’;
‘You’re beautiful’;
‘Let’s live forever beginning now’;
And, ‘I’m a fool for Christ’s sake.’ “
-Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace
Tony Villatoro 