At The Beginning Of The Twentieth Century,

Theology Is-- Or Should Be-- A Species Of Poetry,which Read Quickly Or Encountered In A Hubbub Of Noise Makes No Sense. You Have To Open Yourself To A Poem With A Quiet, Receptive Mind, In The Same Way You Might Listen To A Difficult Piece Of Music... If You Seize Upon A Poem And Try To Extort Its Meaning Before You Are Ready, It Remains Opaque. If You Bring Your Own Personal Agenda To Bear Upon It, The Poem Will Close Upon Itself Like A Clam, Because You Have Denied Its Unique And Separate Identity, Its Inviolate Holiness.

Even Though The Discples Were Not Aware Of It, The Presence Was With Them While They Were Reviewing The Scriptures Together On The Road. Henceforth, We Will Catch Only A Fleeting Glimpse Of It -- In The Study Of Sacred Writings, In Other Human Beings, In Liturgy, And In Communion With Strangers. But These Moments Remain Us That Our Fellow Men And Women Are Themselves Sacred; There Is Something About Them Taht Is Worthy Of Absolute Reverence, Is In The Last Resort Mysterious, And We Will Always Elude Us.

Eventually, With Regret, I Left The Religious Life, And, Once Freed Of The Burden Of Failure And Inadequacy, I Felt My Belief In God Slip Quietly Away. He Had Never Really Impinged Upon My Life, Though I Had Done My Best To Enable Him To Do So. Now That I No Longer Felt So Guilty And Anxious About Him, He Became Too Remote To Be A Reality.

Compassion Is A Practically Acquired Knowledge, Like Dancing. You Must Do It And Practice Diligently Day By Day.

Like Art, Religion Is An Imaginative And Creative Effort To Find A Meaning And Value In Human Life.