What is a religion worth which costs you nothing? What is a sense of God worth which would be at your disposal, capable of being comfortably elicited when and where you please? It is far, far more God who must hold us, than we who must hold Him. And we get trained in these darknesses into that sense of our impotence without which the very presence of God becomes a snare.
FRIEDRICH VON HUGEL Letters From Baron Von Hugel To a Niece
In the Beginning it is usual to feel nothing but a kind of darkness about your mind. You will seem to know nothing and to feel nothing except a naked intent toward God in the depth of your being. You will feel frustrated, for your mind will be unable to grasp him, and your heart will not relish the delight of his love. But learn to be at home in this darkness. Return to it as often as you can, letting your spirit cry out to him whom you love.
ANONYMOUS The Cloud of Unknowing