“All those called to a life of faith come to rely upon those spiritual experiences and moments of illumination that give our lives meaning and direction. Without them, faith is reduced to a set of obligations to meet and rules to follow, or worse, a theological framework that only reinforces our own views and inclinations.
“Yet much of the spiritual life — as life in general — is lived not on the mountain, but in the valley, when the sense of God’s presence is far less dramatic, if we sense God’s presence at all. The challenge then is to trust that whatever vision or grace given to us was real, even when its emotional intensity fades, along with our confidence.”
