Spirituality is an inner fire, a mystical sustenance that feeds our souls. The mystical journey drives us into ourselves, to a sacred flame at our center. The purpose of the religious experience is to develop the eyes by which we see this inner flame, and our capacity to live its mystery. In its presence, we are warmed and ignited. When too far from the blaze, we are cold and spiritually lifeless. We are less than human without that heat. Our connection to God is life itself.

Painful experiences are not meant to linger. They are meant to teach us what they need to teach us, and then dissolve.

The key to intimacy is the commitment to honesty and to the radical forgiveness necessary in order for honesty to be safe.

I sometimes say to people who have life-challenging illnesses: "Right now you are tempted to think that if you were physically well you would be happy. But if that were true, everybody who is physically well would be happy."

Physical circumstances have very little to do with either our capacity to love or to attract love.

I think the vast majority of Americans would have supported military action to stop the second plane from hitting the World Trade Center, if that had been possible. I would have been among them.

The opportunities for infinite possibility exist no matter what age we are.