"Absolute Truths" by Susan Howatch

This is the 6th and final book in the "Church of England" series.  In this volume, we return to the original character towards the latter part of his life.  It's always interesting to me that no matter how much you think you know, as life goes on, when you look back you realise you knew very little.  The powerful message of forgiveness and redemption presented here is very comforting.

Here are some favorite quotes:

Charles Ashworth

• "I must make it clear--if indeed it is not already obvious--that I am not a great spiritual athlete and in no way superior to the uneducated person who knows nothing of Platonic forms and just gets on with the job of praying without going through any intellectual hoops.  In fact I envy such a person.  My busy over-educated brain is a positive hindrance to prayer, and far too often my thoughts speed off on tangents which are intellectually fascinating but quite irrelevant to the task of praying in an acceptable manner."

Lewis Hall

• "Oh, forget all about that bishop business for five minutes," said Hall crossly.  "Ditch it along with the stiff upper lip, why not, and stop worrying about what I'd think of you because just at this moment I don't care who you are, I wouldn't even care if you were the Pope or Marilyn Monroe, all I care about is helping you bash your way out of this bugger-awful corner you're in."

Jonathan Darrow

• At last when we were both utterly silent and utterly still he said: "I have but one comment to make on your behavior and that's this: it all seems a very long way from Jesus of Nazareth."  And turning his back on us abruptly, he stalked away into his kitchen.

Neville "Stephen" Aysgarth

• "All that matters," said Aysgarth firmly, "is that at the end of the day--and I'm glad to tell you the sun's just about to set on my activities--the accounts will be straight as a die and we'll all live happily ever after.  I've just been living a little riskily for some months, that's all."