Only when we can accept God as he is can we give up the desire for spiritual experiences that we can feel.

In centering prayer, the sacred word is not the object of the attention but rather the expression of the intention of the will.

St. Teresa of Avila wrote: 'All difficulties in prayer can be traced to one cause: praying as if God were absent.' This is the conviction that we bring with us from early childhood and apply to everyday life and to our lives in general. It gets stronger as we grow up, unless we are touched by the Gospel and begin the spiritual journey. This journey is a process of dismantling the monumental illusion that God is distant or absent.

Science and technology has tried to offer an alternative to religion by making a god out of human reason, but that didn't work out too well.

Only when we can accept God as he is can we give up the desire for spiritual experiences that we can feel.

The acceptance of all that God has given us and the willingness to let it go - to give it back to him at a moment's notice - that's true human freedom.

Just by the very nature of our birth, we are on the spiritual journey.