We would like to create unity in our lives, but if we attempt this too grossly and humanly, we expose ourselves to failure.  The only unity possible here on earth is the profound unity deriving from our effort to remain constantly under the movement of the Holy Spirit–that is, to live in the present moment, conformed to God’s good pleasure.

The more our contemplative life develops, the more we find ourselves passing from moments of light and intimacy with God to terrible moments in which there is nothing but faith to hang onto.  The farther we advance, the more the half-tones disappear, giving place to painful alterations between life and death, heat and cold.  It may be that we have never felt our hearts so cold since entering religious life.  Perhaps there will even be moments when we think that we scarcely have any faith left.  –Father Thomas Philippe ‘The Contemplative Life’