Strive to render your mind deaf and dumb at the time of prayer, and then, you will be able to pray.
~ by Evagrius of Pontus
You, darkness, of whom I am born–
I love you more that the flame
that limits the world
to the circle it illuminates
and excludes all the rest.
But the dark embraces everything:
shapes and shadows, creatures and me,
people, nations–just as they are.
It lets me imagine
a great presence stirring beside me.
I believe in the night.