The healing Balm of Love

Why does spiritual growth often become more visible when things are bad? Suffering can reveal our poverty and expose the limits of self-reliance. Yet desperation is not itself the goal, nor should it be confused with despair. The deeper gift is poverty of spirit: the surrender of the illusion that we can live without God.

How can one become willing to surrender before reaching the end of one’s rope? By receiving the grace to recognize that God is needed not only in crisis but in every moment. This surrender is awakened by love—a personal encounter with the personal God who meets us in the inner chamber of prayer. In silence, not as an escape into nothingness but as attentive openness to God, the roots of the soul may be nourished by the hidden stream of grace.

God’s love does not destroy the person; it heals, purifies, and makes the person fruitful. Like the tree planted beside streams of water, the soul may grow even when it does not feel the water. The consoling encounter may return, or it may remain hidden. Either way, the call is the same: remain rooted in God, surrender in trust, and allow love to bear fruit in charity.