Far from light emerging gradually out of the womb of our darkness, it is the Light, existing before all else was made which, patiently, surely, eliminates our darkness. As for creatures, of ourselves, we are but emptiness and obscurity. . . . Radiant Word, Blazing Power . . . reach us simultaneously through all that is most immense and most inward within us and around us.
~ from HYMN OF THE UNIVERSE by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
When you spend time with a dying person, you discover that the human spirit has the
power to come forth in the middle of crisis and suffering in ways we can't imagine.
Over and over, I have seen ordinary people—afraid, angry, confused—awaken into
profound wisdom and understanding.