Kingdom Math

"Christian optimism is rooted in God, who says to us: I am with you always, to the close of the age. With him we can do anything. We are victorious even when we are defeated. This is the optimism of the saints. St. Teresa of Avila would often repeat....Teresa can do nothing alone. Teresa and a maravedi (a penny, say), less than nothing. But Teresa, a maravedi and God can do anything. It is the same with us. Cast away that despair produced by the realization of your weakness. It's true: financially you are a zero, and socially another zero, and another in virtues, and another in talents... But to the left of these zeros is Christ. And what an immeasurable figure it turns out to be."

-- from In Conversation With God, vol. 4, p. 298-9