This devotion has only grown in the years we’ve been here in the St. Croix Valley in Wisconsin, and it has continued to be a source of joy and inspiration in daily living. It has helped us to have an even keener awareness of the divine presence in our lives. The German mystic Meister Eckhart wanted people to “apprehend God in all things. Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God. Every creature is a word of God. If I spent enough time with the tiniest caterpillar, I would have to prepare a sermon, so full of God is every creature.” In believing in God’s tender and continued love for us, we as creatures trust always that our heart’s desires are known to our tender God, and that, yes, in spite of all life’s difficulties, all tragedies, all pain, our God, as St. Bernard tells us: ‘loves us more and before we do.” It takes courage to believe this, and a strong heart to live it, but this is the grace we aspire to, and the gift we hope for. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus grant it be so!