Nixon, watching Reagan seemingly leave political life, “suddenly recognized what no one else seemed to: that this blankly genial, overappreciated son of a bitch, two years older than himself, was heading not for a pasture but a short stretch of wilderness, on the other side of which lay something vast.”

The ball was kicked by Fred. would, in active voice, be Fred kicked the ball.

The believer was purified and, united with Christ, convivified with Him, even as, in the Eucharist, the body of the church, was concorporated, unified, sanctified, and offered in sacrifice with Christ its head.

That doesn't leave room for much X-Filesy speculation about the nature of the universe — yet that doesn't stop Carter from trying to inject some intellectual spookiness.