“One of my favorite Eastern Fathers, Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022 AD), said, “I have seen the Totality, received not in essence, but by participation. When you light a flame from a flame, it is the same flame that you receive.” We’re not saying “I am God.” No one can or wants to live up to that! What we are saying is that we participate very really and objectively in the Divinity. That’s the whole point of religion: to let you know that what you’re drawing upon is already planted within you! You don’t manufacture it by good moral behavior or by going to church on Sunday. You do awaken it, however, by participating in a community of faith, by eating the Eucharist, living in an entirely sacramental universe, and by fully enjoying God’s image in nature, animals, and in other human beings.”

                                   ~Richard Rohr