Love changes the way we know things. Love is not blind affection or mere satisfaction. Rather, love is the highest good that seeks and desires the highest good in another. To love is to know the good in another without questioning the good of the other or trying to understand the good of the other. The wise person is one whose knowledge is shaped by love and who sees the world through the eyes of love. Such a person lives from a deeper center within. Rooted in the heart, the wise person is rooted in the world and sees the world in its truth and beauty.
One sees from the center of the beloved; thus one sees the world unafraid of the vision. The wise person is one who has the freedom to remain empty in the face of encounter and to allow the experience of encountering the new, whether a new person, creature or idea, to enter one’s life and change one’s capacity to love.
—from the book Compassion: Living in the Spirit of St. Francis
by Ilia Delio, OSF