The sublimation of the human will to the Greater Will is the prime challenge of the spiritual Journey. In fact, this transference of one's allegiance from self to Self, and to God, IS the essence of the spiritual Path. All other aspects of this Path -- all practices, all tests and trials, all teachings and disciplines, and all of the love and the adversity are a part of the great drama of the gradual fusing of the mortal, lesser self with that which is immortal and immutable. But in order to become one with God, the soul itself must first possess an identity, rounded out and matured as a worthy offering to give back to its Creator.
~ from BEETHOVEN AND THE SPIRITUAL PATH by David Tame
Fifty years of marriage is the essence of a journey that spans uphills and downhills, goals achieved; unexpected joys, and times of failure, disappointments, and offenses that sought forgiveness. The thirteenth chapter of Corinthians is a discipline and a constant for the days and years. Love is not arrogant or rude, love glories not in one-upman-ship or being right, love suffers and is kind, love hangs in there. And ultimately this delicate, gentle but tough bond supersedes all else and becomes the one imperishable gift we can have if we are humble enough to receive it.
~ Ross Cameron in DEEP IN THE FAMILIAR by J. C. Borton
