When did “God” become more than a word to you? When, even for just a moment, did you glimpse the meaning of your life? When, in the midst of the challenges and complexities of adult responsibilities, did you regain the joy and passion you felt as a child? Or, in a time of trouble, struggling to find your way, how did God’s amazing grace become real to you and, though the path remained difficult, you knew that God was with you and trusted that you would find your true home?
Perhaps it was the birth of your child or grandchild, a starry night in the Rockies, a sunrise at the beach, a time when you hit rock bottom and discovered the Rock, or you felt Christ come alive in the bread and wine. At such moments, we are forever changed. Despite our imperfections and struggles, life becomes brighter and more colorful or perhaps more fragile, new energies emerge, and we discover that each person we meet is holy, and that we should speak to everyone as if they were an angel. We know that we are in God’s hands, and God will never abandon us. These moments of spiritual transformation may not be dramatic but, when they occur, our lives are never the same. The world truly does become charged with God’s grandeur, the heavens declare the glory of God, and we realize that nothing, not even our greatest fears, can separate us from the love of God.
—from the book Head, Heart, and Hands: An Introduction to Saint Bonaventure
by Bruce Epperly
