Gaudenzia Baltimore, MD

We are here because there is no refuge, finally, from ourselves. Until people confront themselves in the eyes and hearts of others, they are running. Until they suffer others to share their secrets, they have no safety from them. Afraid to be known, they can know neither themselves nor any other; they will be alone. Where else but in our common ground can we find

a mirror? Here, together, people can at last appear clearly to themselves - not as the giant of their dreams, nor the dwarfs of their fears - but as individuals, part of a whole, with a share in its purpose. In this ground we can each take root and grow, not alone anymore as in death, but alive to ourselves and to others.