Colin Fletcher, in THE MAN WHO WALKED THROUGH TIME, describes how from moments of peak awareness, there came at last after long solitude and silence, and for the time being, a continuous sense of being one with the rhythm of all life and all time, of being inside as well as outside the life of everything he saw – animals, insects, the living rocks, the wind, the river; and finally, most difficult of all, he could feel even the craziness of modern humanity as part of the unbroken pattern of eternity.
Love is a yearning on the part of one human being for another. In contemplative prayer one human being yearns for a love relationship, and ultimately a union with the infinite God. It is the quintessential joining of hearts and minds that fulfills the ultimate longings of the human being for infinite love. It begins when one recognizes a deeply felt longing for God, a longing that stirs out of the darkest recesses of one's being and is expressed at times with a sigh that involves the whole body. It calls for undivided attention to the Beloved so yearned for, to the point of setting aside all thoughts about anything else, even holy and comforting reflection and words. It is total dedication to the Beloved alone.