July 29 – The End of the Path: Union with God
The goal of the spiritual life is not to become divine but to recognize that we already share in God’s divinity. Cynthia Bourgeault
Gregg’s Reflection
Every path has a destination, and the faint path we walk with God leads to nothing less than union with God. This union is not an escape from our humanity, but the fulfillment of it — our lives rooted in love, our hearts aligned with the Divine. It is not something we can earn or achieve; it is gift, pure grace, already planted within us.
I used to imagine union with God as a far-off reward reserved for saints and mystics. Over time, I’ve come to see it as the birthright of all God’s children, the goal of our becoming. Some days I sense this union in flashes of clarity — in prayer, in nature, in love shared freely. Other days, it feels distant. Yet even in the hiddenness, the truth remains: God is always present, closer than breath, patiently drawing us home.
The end of the path is not somewhere else; it is the unveiling of the Presence that has been with us all along. Our task is not to strive but to surrender, to let go of illusion and fear so that God’s life may shine through us. In the end, we will discover that we were never separate, that the path and the destination were one, and that all along we were walking in God.
Scripture
I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.
John 17:23
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
Galatians 2:20
He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature.
2 Peter 1:4
Ancient Quotes
God became man so that man might become God.
Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, 54.3
The glory of God is a human being fully alive.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, IV.20.7
My deepest me is God.
Catherine of Genoa, Dialogues on the Soul and Body, trans. Serge Hughes, p. 126.
Modern Quotes
Union with God is the realization that the very reality of who we are is already one with the divine presence that sustains us in being.
James Finley, Merton’s Palace of Nowhere, ch. 1
The deepest level of communication is not communication, but communion. It is wordless. It is beyond words, and it is beyond speech, and it is beyond concept.
Thomas Merton, The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton, p. 308
The goal of the spiritual life is not to become divine but to recognize that we already share in God’s divinity.
Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, p. 89
Journaling Prompts
- When have you felt most united with God? What was that experience like?
- How do you understand union with God — as a future hope, a present reality, or both?
- What practices or moments help you surrender into God’s presence?
- How might seeing union as your birthright (rather than an achievement) change the way you live today?
There is no one pathway to God. “Say not, ‘I have found the path of the soul,’ say rather, ‘I have met the soul walking upon my path,’ for the soul walks upon all paths.” —Kahlil Gibran. Find Yours.
👉 Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 30 Reflection: Pathways to God