The Fruits of the Great Surrender

St. Clare of Assisi said, ‘We become what we love, and what we love shapes what we become.’ If we love things, we become things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. She might have added, if we love everything, we become everything; if we love everyone, and we become everyone. When the tension of the great search dissolves in us, the fuel that underlies much of our thinking and feeling dries up, our thoughts slow down, our feelings quieten without our having directly addressed them. Where there was agitation, there is space, peace. Where there was sorrow, lack, there is a sense of plenitude, sufficiency. And where there was conflict, harmony begins to prevail. Peace, joy, love, these are the fruits of the great surrender. At some point, the teaching must come to an end, and then peace, friendship and creativity remain.

St. Clare of Assisi said, ‘We become what we love, and what we love shapes what we become.’ If we love things, we become things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. She might have added, if we love everything, we become everything; if we love everyone, and we become everyone. When the tension of the great search dissolves in us, the fuel that underlies much of our thinking and feeling dries up, our thoughts slow down, our feelings quieten without our having directly addressed them. Where there was agitation, there is space, peace. Where there was sorrow, lack, there is a sense of plenitude, sufficiency. And where there was conflict, harmony begins to prevail. Peace, joy, love, these are the fruits of the great surrender. At some point, the teaching must come to an end, and then peace, friendship and creativity remain.