The great hulking eminence of the stone-age mound stood out as an ominous dark shadow. - Stephen R. Lawhead

For ourselves, Mighty Father, I pray you keep us from the sin of hatred, keep us from the sin of vengeance, keep us from the sin of despair, but protect us from the wicked schemes of our enemies.

The female heart is a world unto itself, incomprehensible to men. Yet I perceive that you have been of a mood today: pensive, contemplative, hesitant, expectant. And you have spent the better part of the day watching me as if you thought I might follow your merlin into the sky and never return.

And I wondered if he knew how well, how naturally he led. Was it, in the end, so different leading men? Was it not much the same — picking out the trail, deciding the safest way, strengthening the unsure step with words of encouragement, guiding, going ahead, but not too far ahead — was not trailcraft much the same as kingcraft?