Friendships-in-God are not found by seeking friendship, but by seeking God. Those who draw closer to God find such friendships simply burst upon them. These bombshells of intense affection explode without warning in our lives. But they are good surprises.

So as we grow in Christ, we grow into new families, formed by a deep common love of God. The bond, it seems, is sacramental.

But the best reason to pray is that God is really there. In praying, our unbelief gradually starts to melt. God moves smack into the middle of even an ordinary day. He is no longer someone we theorize about. He is someone we want to be near.

Prayer, it seems, disposes us to new friendship, in that it more and more lays us open to experience from any source, makes us sensitive to every aspect of existence, every leaf, every ray of light, every sorrow, every pain.

A good book doesn't necessarily guarantee a good movie,

Books are special -- they communicate with us directly, ... movies are made by a bunch of people for a larger bunch of people.