The encounter with God, the experience of the absolute, is a principle at work in ourselves... This awakening to the brightness of the inner light is a necessary step in the full spiritual development of the person, of EVERY person, a step in which the transcendental sense awakens, the inner eye opens, and reality is finally encountered. It is a breaking forth from the constricting shell of ego-consciousness, an opening to the breadth and fullness of life found in cosmic consciousness.
Special grace comes with drama and flair. We are rescued, singled out in a momentous act of boldness. BUT common grace falls upon the just and unjust alike. It strikes us as simply too ... ordinary.