"When I realized how long I'd been out and how close I'd come to leaving it forever, our little home seemed to glitter like cheap jewelry. I was overjoyed not to be dead.  Generally the closest I ever came to wondering about the meaning of it all was to consider that I must be the victim of a joke.  There was no touching the hem of mystery, no little occasion when any of us thought--well, speaking for myself only, I suppose--that our lungs were filled with light, or anything like that.  I had a moment's glory that night, though.  I was certain I was here in this world because I couldn't tolerate any other place."

-Denis Johnson, Jesus' Son (pg. 34)