Voice that calls us the beloved

But what I would like to say is that the spiritual
life is a life in which you gradually learn to listen
to a voice that says something else, that says, "You
are the beloved and on you my favour rests."... I want
you to hear that voice. It is not a very loud voice
because it is an intimate voice. It comes from a very
deep place. It is soft and gentle. I want you to
gradually hear that voice. We both have to hear that
voice and to claim for ourselves that that voice speaks
the truth, our truth. It tells us who we are. That is
where the spiritual life starts - by claiming the voice
that calls us the beloved.
- Henri J. M. Nouwen