He held me, too, and began muttering that from here on life was never going to be the same, that God had felled his only tree and shelter.

NEWYORKER: Naima

Reflecting on human suffering, Annie Dillard was once moved to suggest that God must care more about the tree of humanity than the individual leaves that fall from it.

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You see one single flower nodding on a cliff side far across the canyon, or a huge knot in a redwood tree looking like Zeus' face, or some of God's little crazy creations goofing around in creek pools (zigzag bugs), or a sign on a lonely fence saying 'M.

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