Writing

At its best the sensation of writing is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to you but only if you look for it. You search, you break your heart, your back, your brain and then - and only then - it is handed to you. From the corner of yur eye you can see motion. Something is moving the air and headed your way.

from the Writing Life by Annie Dillard (p75)

The learned man said
to the almond tree:
Speak to me of God.
And the almond tree blossomed.

Anonymous poem on a poster in the Abbey of Sylvanes, translated by David McAndrew and quoted by Timothy Radcliffe in Why go the Church.