left Quote

   ST IRENAEUS OF LYONS (c. 130 – c. 203)

It is not thou that shapest God;
it is God that shapeth thee.
For then thou art the work of God,
waiting the hand of the artist
who does all things in due season.
Offer him thy heart, soft and tractable,
and keep the form in which the artist
            has shapen thee.
Let thy clay be moist,
lest thou grow hard
and lose the imprint of his fingers.


right quotation

In their many different idioms the classical spiritual writers have attempted to throw light on the eternal question of union with God. 
Every month we give you a brief passage from a spiritual classic.