IT IS A NOSTALGIA OR A GLIMPSE THAT HAUNTS THEM

 
All Saints, Mystics, and Lovers of God know these thorns and briars, for the path they tread, bears them as a signpost. Once started, travelers on that path cannot, even if they would, turn back, for they are consumed ceaselessly with the love and desire for the Divine[;] it is a nostalgia or a glimpse that haunts them, and drives them ever on in more Love for the Beloved. If the end be martyrdom or an ecstasy, both are the same, for they go with the Beloved's name on their lips, and a certainty of knowing that no cruelty of the world can take away.

So went St. Joan of Arc to the stake, rather than deny her Voices; so was Mansur Hallaj crucified by the ignorant masses, because he would not retract his declaration that he was God. So St. Francis of Assisi turned away from a life of sin, consumed with love for Jesus, and humbly and willingly endured hardships and poverty embracing the lepers, hailing all as his brethren, even "Brother Sun" and "Sister Moon" for everywhere was the face of his Beloved, Jesus.

So, Akhenaton, the God-intoxicated Pharaoh of Egypt, struggling against the worn-out creeds of a corrupt priesthood, sang the praises of the One God, in words that show the strength and truth of his Vision.

What is this divine fever that through the ages has moved countless men and women to renounce joyfully all the things that the rest of mankind hold so dear? Possessions, fame, security, family, in fact everything that the majority spend their lives and energies accumulating.