“Contemplation is the highest expression of man’s intellectual and spiritual life. It is that for itself, fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is a spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe of the sacredness of life, of being. It is gratitude for life, for awareness, and for being. It is a vivid realization that life and being within us proceed from an invisible, transcendent, and infinitely abundant Source. Contemplation is, above all, awareness of the reality of that Source. It knows the source, obscurely, inexplicably, but with a certitude that goes beyond reason and beyond simple faith. For contemplation is a kind of spiritual vision…”

– Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation. 

In his writing, I learned to embrace contemplation of my search for a Spiritual Life. Everything he wrote about has become true for me; contemplation is my daily embrace of faith. I am grateful to Merton for teaching me how to be a new seed of Contemplation. It has enriched my life.