To see all things at their origin, their beginning, puts us in kinship with all that lives: trees, birds, stars seem foreign to us only inasmuch as we perceive them outside of our common origin with them. To drink at the source of all that lives and breathes expands the heart and makes the blood sing, echoing the song of all the vital fluids in the world. To dwell near all beginnings is to draw infinitely near to that which creates both the unity and the diversity of all beings.
~ from THE SACRED EMBRACE OF JESUS AND MARY by Jean-Yves Leloup
Journeying more deeply into our deepest center and into the world around us pushes us into seeing more deeply into all of life. Not only are we forced to deal with the illusions of our false selves, but also of society. ... The one who begins to live deeply as a contemplative begins to see things as they really are. We are called to deal with the illusions of ourselves, so we can enter into a loving dialogue with the world. We are called to EMBRACE the world as we journey deeper and deeper into ourselves and God. We turn with a singleness of vision, to see God in each new situation, in every person, and every experience -- seeing all those things in a truer perspective.
