Many people have shared stories about divine encounters with angels in which they received profound guidance, comfort, or instructions on how to proceed with their lives. And many people describe angelic interventions in which they are given a warning about something or someone in their lives . . . Without a doubt we are surrounded by our angels, invisible beings of light who guide us through the mysteries of our lives.
The entirety of the contemplative life is grounded in the love of God. Without that love there would be no prayer ... nothing at all. This love calls into being -- creates, quickens, gives life to -- all that is. This love binds together each one to the other, and in the end binds us to the Source of that love, draws us back into the One whom we never really left, draws us back into God. In that returning we discover that there never existed a division between us and that ... the whole of life is in truth one continuous mystical experience because it has always been suffused with God's love.
~ from THE SMELL OF INCENSE, THE SOUND OF SILENCE by John W. Groff
