Anyone serious about living a deeper spiritual life must be familiar with the Cloud of Unknowing, a work on Christian mysticism written in the late 14th century. The following quote is just a sample of the writing:
The access to heaven is in desire. The one who longs to be there is already there in spirit. The path to heaven is measured by desire and not by miles...and the spirit abides where its love abides as surely as it abides in the body which it fills with life.
Desire. It has the power to propel, to drive, to fuel our journey. It does not come on its own; we must ignite that fire.
That is why meditation and Lectio Divina are so essential in the spiritual life. It allows me to take a simple text and make it my own. It is the medium by which my soul absorbs the context and imbibes the spirit. My desires will remain sterile and theoretical without these habits. And I will know things, but not really know them in my inmost being.
If I would desire more, if I want to desire better, if I need fuel for my spiritual life, I need to stay with the practice of meditation and Lectio. Only then can my spiritual life become an ever more flaming fire of desire. It will put heaven within my reach.
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