"The Bridegroom hides when he is sought, so that, not finding him, the Bride may seek him with a renewed ardour; and the Bride is hampered in her search so that this delay may increase the capacity for God, and that she may find one day more fully what she was seeking."
Gregory the Great
"God, by making us wait, stretches desire. Stretching desire, he stretches the soul. Stretching the soul, he makes it capable of receiving... Such is our life: we must endeavour to desire."
Augustine
"God wants the delay in pleasure to set afire the desire [of the soul] so that together with this ardour his joy may also increase,... [so that one can go so far as to say that] finding God means to seek him continually... This is truly seeing God when one is not sated in desiring him... God is eternally sought."
Gregory of Nyssa
"As soon as the Word appears after many vigils and endless prayers, long works and torrents of tears, he escapes all of a sudden, just when you thought that you could securely possess him. At another time, he will come close to the one who weeps and runs after him; he lets himself be possessed for a while, but not to be kept forever, for just a moment later, he flees and escapes."
Bernard of Clairvaux
"Where did you hide, friend,
Who left me in mourning?
Like a hind you fled,
Leaving me desolate,
Crying, I went out after you,
And you were gone."
John of the Cross
One day the grandson of Rabbi Baruch was playing hide-and-seek with another little boy. He hid, but the other refused to seek him and left. The child went to complain to his grandfather. Then, his own eyes full of tears, Rabbi Baruch cried: "God says the same thing. I hide, but no one comes to seek me.
Martin Buber
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