The gate of heaven is everywhere

In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I was theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers...I have the immense joy of being a man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidies of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are walking around shining like the sun. It was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire no self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God's eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they are really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed...I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other....I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere. - Thomas Merton

My favorite place on campus is the grotto. Not because its so scenic - but because I know that with every candle lit comes someone's pure hope. Hope in God. Hope in humanity. Hope in love. Hope in something bigger than themselves. Man is simply a breathtaking concept. I mean think about it - we have the pure joy of being part of a race in which God manifested himself.