The Eye of a Needle

The spiritual life is all about love, where true ardour is expressed through the giving of oneself to another. The Father gave His Son, knowing He would be crucified, whilst Jesus forsook everything, humbling Himself as the ultimate self-sacrifice. The reciprocation of love demands the same of us—that we identify with Jesus upon the Cross, not merely in word nor even the depths of prayer, but through the abandon of self—an ultimate letting go of all endeavour, ego, and self-preservation.

Our new identity is this alone: “I am His.”

Such yielding requires the relinquishing of every right we may cling to, every preference we may hold dear, and every aspiration we may cherish. In the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” This reduction is necessary if we are ever to find our way into the Bridal chamber, because union with Christ is founded upon reciprocated love—the giving of ourselves entirely to our Beloved.

Within the innermost depths of the heart, there lies a door that opens into an intimate encounter with our Bridegroom, and yet this door is as small as the eye of a needle. Only love may pass through it.

Every encumbrance of self must be discarded—every ambition, right, possession, emotion, and image we uphold. The soul is prepared through surrender, simplified through love, until it becomes a single gaze turned toward Jesus. In this holy reduction, we discover the narrow door, hidden within the repose of longing attention, where the soul passes quietly into the communion of the Bridal chamber.