Contemplative Gifts

The truth is that God, in his wisdom, determines the course and the character of each one’s contemplative journey according to the talents and gifts he has given him. It is true that some people do not reach contemplation without long and arduous spiritual toil and, even then, only now and again know its perfection in the delight of ecstasy called ravishing. Yet there are others so spiritually refined by grace, and so intimate with God in prayer, that they seem to possess and experience the perfection of this work almost as they like, even in their ordinary daily routine, whether sitting, standing, walking, or kneeling... And so, my dear friend, I bid you farewell now with God’s blessing and mine. May God give you and all who love him true peace, wise counsel, and his own interior joy in the fullness of grace. AMEN

– from The Cloude of Unknowyng, Anonymous, 14th century