WANDERING I searched for meaning; AFRAID I would never find the ONE whose love upon which I could depend. How in this world of changing values and loss of innocence could I find the Love of my Life. But YOU found me and gave me Your LOVE, a love that knows no boundaries -- no limits, MAKING the unloveable LOVELY, and my selfish heart GRATEFUL. Your magnificent MERCY knows no limits; and the GRACES I inherit from your sacrificial HEART make me worthy to be your CHILD. A MIRACLE of FORGIVENESS awaits me each time I falter; CLEANSING me, RESTORING me, HEALING me, confirming to me that you are my FATHER. How can I serve You? You Who do not NEED nor have any WANTS. I used to think it was in loving OTHERS; and so my HEART reached out to them, like you reached out to ME. But I found they were offended and did not respond to me; then I REALIZED how You must have felt when I OFFENDED You for so many years with my DOUBT. In their FEAR they did not respond to me; so my SERVANTHOOD was rejected, and my heart again you healed. I UNDERSTAND now how You feel when your LOVE is spurned; PLEASE allow the PRAISES from my GRATEFUL heart to heal YOU. 
In contemplation the spirit has these five properties of the SPARROW:
It generally frequents high places, and the spirit in this state rises to the highest contemplation.
It is ever turning its face in the direction of the wind, and the spirit turns its affections towards the place whence comes the Spirit of Love -- GOD.
It is usually solitary, so the spirit in contemplation is far away from all worldly thoughts.
It sings most sweetly; and so does the spirit at this time sing to God. For the praises which it offers up spring from the sweetest love, delightful to itself and most precious in God's sight.
It is no definite colour. So also is the perfect spirit which in this ecstasy is without any tinge of sensual affection or self-love. It has entered into the abyss of the knowledge of God.
St. John of the Cross |
