Beyond Rivalry

"That which is truly great grows unnoticed, and silence at the right moment is more fruitful than the constant activity that only too easily degenerates into spiritual idleness. In the present age, we are all possessed by a strange restlessness that suspects any silence of being a waste of time and any kind of repose as being negligence. … Even in the religious sphere we tend to expect and hope for everything from our own activity. We use all kinds of exercises and involvements to evade the real mystery of interior growth before God. And yet in the religious sphere receptivity is at least as important as activity." -- Cardinal Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI)

Gil Bailie quotes this to say that it almost perfectly sums up the 'fundamental religious attitude' of his beloved wife Liz, who died in February. It reflects an important part of my religious (that is: life) attitude, too.

(Photo taken by me at Longwood Gardens, PA)