Who are You, sweet Light, who inundate me and enlighten me and enlighten the night of my heart? You guide me just like a mother's hand; but if You leave me, I cannot advance a single step. You are space that surrounds my being and in which it is concealed. If you abandon me, I fall into the abyss of nothingness, from where You called me into being. You are nearer to me than myself, more intimate than my inmost being. And yet, no one touches You or understands You and You break the bonds of every name: Holy Spirit - Eternal Love!
To realize that we are one with the Creator, as Beethoven did, is a wonderful and awe-inspiring experience. Very few human beings ever come into that realization and that is why there are so few great composers or creative geniuses in any line of human endeavor. I always contemplate all this before commencing to compose... Spirit is the creative energy of the Cosmos. Our soul is not conscious of its power until it is enlightened by the Spirit. Therefore, to evolve and grow, we must learn how to use and develop our own soul forces... The real genius draws on the Infinite Source of Wisdom and Power.
~ from TALKS WITH GREAT COMPOSERS by Arthur M. Abell with thanks to Ray Berry