Let me start with a confession: I am not, deep down, a nice person.

It’s not like I don’t try to be nicer and more generous. It’s just that I fail at it daily. Luckily for me, as a church-going Episcopalian, I am reminded each week that of course I’m going to fail at it and of course I’m filled with all sorts of horrible impulses. That’s sort of the whole point of the Christian faith. You’re bad and awful and — here’s the good part — forgiven!