. . .

What the writing and reading of spirituality is trying to achieve is the pressing of texts and words into the service of spirit. Because spirit is what is being sought as well as what is doing the attracting, the way of words, if at all it is to achieve the goal, has to mirror this inner essence of the nature of reality, an inner essence that suggests itself to also be at the center of our own individual identities.

Even with this basic intent, the hidden mystery of spirit cannot be totally uncovered, exposed to a final form of scrutiny. No matter how well-crafted and nuanced, no definitive text may be created that is able to reveal or expose the reality of spirit in its complete nakedness. This may be a frustration to any aspiring reader or writer of spirituality. It means that the sensitivity of cultivating the spiritual ear or voice, involves at its roots, the acceptance of partiality. Maturity is the realization that only the shape, sense, texture of spirit may be garnered, and that these may together, form what one may begin to see as the outline of the depth reality of spirit. What is important is that through this literary craft, one may garner the sensation of what is generally understood as the ineffable, hints and clues that lead to wonder, the understanding that there just might be something more — beauty, depth, mystery, goodness — at the center of life and existence.


from, Leaping Without Words: Cultivating and Exploring the Sacred through Writing and Reading, p. 83