Presence exacts its coin —

our dearly held desire for self-preoccupation,

and the fantasy of control that presumes to preside over and above.

Mystics, artists, and prophets exemplify

this surrender into solidarity;

letting the self be moved by suffering and inspired by imagining.

True spiritual practice harbors this same intention —

the hand-over of self, that places us on a collision-course with grace

and draws us into a deepened state of readiness.

This holy intention

leads to whole, undivided attention,

where we come to know life in its raw fullness!

—from the book Wandering and Welcome: Meditations for Finding Peace by Joseph Grant