[Practical Spirituality: A Blog by Wes Eades] A Quote from Gerald May

[Practical Spirituality]

"This transformative process -- The freeing of love from attachment -- is akin to the ancient biblical concept of salvation. ... In contrast to life -denying asceticism that advocates freedom from desire, [Saint Teresa of Avila] and [Saint John of the Cross] see authentic transformation as leading to freedom for desire. For them, the essence of all human desire is love."

Gerald May, The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth, 2004, p. 73

Sacrificial love
is not something we achieve
on our own
as if it were a college degree
or a merit raise

Sacrificial love...
it is patient
and kind.
it knows no envy
nor pride,
nor selfishness
it is full of trust
and hope
and perseverance.

We might taste it,
but we cannot live it,
unless we are transformed.
unless our love is transformed,
from a grasping
clinging
demanding
attachment to self,
to a free-falling trust into the Ground of all True Love
who comes to us in the vulnerability of a little baby
and in the sorrow of shattered body, naked and bleeding, on a cross.

No one lives this Love apart from transformation.

--
Posted By Practical Spirituality to Practical Spirituality: A Blog by Wes Eades at 12/25/2007 04:13:00 PM