Spirituality: Mysticism in a Sufi story

A Sufi aphorism expresses the mystery of discovering God as a mutual partner as we mature through life.

For thirty years I sought God. But when I looked carefully, I saw that in reality God was the seeker and I was the sought.

Of human lovers:

One day Majnun, whose love for Laila inspired many a Persian Poet, was playing in a little heap of sand, when a friend came to him and said: “Why are you wasting your time in an occupation so childish?” “I am seeking Laila in these sand,” replied Majnun. His friend in amazement cried: “Why? Laila is an angel, so what is the use of seeking her in the common earth?” “I seek her everywhere,” said Majnun, bowing his head, “that I may find her somewhere.”

From Janet Ruffing’s Spiritual Direction