It has seemed to me sometimes as though the
Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of Creation and it turns to radiance -
for a moment or a year or the span of a life. And then it sinks back into
itself again, and to look at it no one would know it had anything to do with
fire, or light .... Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like
transfiguration. You don't have to bring a thing to it except a little
willingness to see. Only, who could have the courage to see it? ....
Theologians talk about a prevenient grace that precedes grace itself and allows
us to accept it. I think there must also be a prevenient courage that allows us
to be brave - that is, to acknowledge that there is more beauty than our eyes
can bear, that precious things have been put into our hands and to do nothing
to honor them is to do great harm.