Let us consider the deepest and most fundamental element in all strong and sincerely felt religious emotion. Faith unto salvation, trust, love- all these are there. But over and above these is an element which may also on occasion, quite apart from them, profoundly affect us and occupy the mind with a wellnigh bewildering strength. Let us follow it up with every effort of sympathy and imaginative intuition wherever it is to be found, in the lives of those around us, in sudden, strong ebullitions of personal piety and the frames of mind such ebullitions evince, in the fixed and ordered solemnities of rites and liturgies, and again in the atmosphere that clings to old religious monuments and buildings, to temples and to churches. If we do so we shall find we are dealing with something for which there is only one appropriate expression, ‘mysterium tremendum.’ The feeling of it may at times come sweeping like a gentle tide, pervading the mind with a tranquil mood of deepest worship. It may pass over into a more set and lasting attitude of the soul, continuing, as it were, thrillingly vibrant and resonant, until at last it dies away and the soul resumes its ‘profane,’ non-religious mood of everyday experience. It may burst in sudden eruption up from the depths of the soul with spasms and convulsions, or lead to the strangest excitements, to intoxicated frenzy, to transport, and to ecstasy. It may become the hushed, trembling, and speechless humility of the creature in the presence of- whom or what? In the presence of that which is a ‘mystery’ inexpressible and above all creatures……Rudolf Otto

we can hope for ecstasy, but remember that the divine is in all passionate creativity and a fully inhabited life…..gentle possibility shines through our own unique story and connection to a sanctuary of presence within us…

the shape or our souls in celebration…

our awakening can feel like the dawn has never dawned before…..and each transfiguration at each crossroads reminds us that love is the deepest form of prayer…

Every day we’re confronted with a gap, often painfully wide, between the life we live now and a life of deep enchantment. As much as we might want to believe in the power of spiritual principles, we often feel like we don’t know how to apply them. At times, they seem so far away from our practical realities. Yet, in fact, they are only as far away as our next perception, should that perception be filled with love. No matter what the circumstance, we can choose to infuse it with light. We will only find light in God, who gives it to us that we might extend it to every living thing. Every moment of every day, becoming more illumined, we become the illuminators. Eventually darkness shall be no more. In every hour of every day, dealing with small details or dealing with huge issues, the alchemical power of our spiritual wands provides a portal into another realm, a magic carpet ride above the turmoil of the world……Marianne Williamson