Sometimes I think there are only two instructions we need to follow to develop and deepen our spiritual life: slow down and let go.

Loudly declaring our soul's desire can get the blood running and our passions blazing.

What if becoming who and what we truly are happens not through striving and trying but by recognizing and receiving the people and places and practices that offer us the warmth of encouragement we need to unfold?

What if the question is not why I am so infrequently the person I really want to be, but why do I so infrequently want to be the person I really am?

... It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

The courage to go deeper is found by letting your desire grow larger than your fear.