Like the sun's rays that cause the seed to stir within its husk, love's radiant energy penetrates the facade of the false self, calling forth resources hidden deep within us.  Its warmth wakes up the life inside us, making us want to uncurl, to give birth, to grow and reach for the light.  It calls on us to break out of our shell, the personality-husk surrounding the seed potential of all that we could be.  The purpose of a seed husk is to protect the tender life within until the time and conditions are right for it to burst forth.  Our personality structure serves a similar function.  It provides a semblance of security, as a kind of compensation for the loss of our larger being.  But when love's warming rays start to wake us up, our ego-shell becomes a barrier restricting our expansion.  As the germ of life swells within us, we feel our imprisonment more acutely…..The brighter love's radiance, the darker the shadows we encounter; the more we feel life stirring within us, the more we also feel our dead spots; the more conscious we become, the more clearly we see where we remain unconscious.  None of this need dishearten us.  For in facing our darkness, we bring to light forgotten parts of our being.  In recognizing exactly where we have been unconscious, we become more conscious.  And in seeing and feeling the ways we've gone dead, we start to revive and kindle our desire to live more expansively.

Awareness born of love is the only force that can bring healing and renewal.  Out of our love for another person, we become more willing to let our old identities wither and fall away, and enter a dark night of the soul, so that we may stand naked once more in the presence of the great mystery that lies at the core of our being.  This is how love ripens us – by warming us from within, inspiring us to break out of our shell, and lighting our way through the dark passage to new birth.