“The entire universe lives in a continuous dynamism of receiving and giving, as if caught

“The entire universe lives in a continuous dynamism of receiving and giving, as if caught up in a process of cosmic breathing…To live the covenant means to position oneself in reality, to align oneself with reality in a constant disposition of receiving and giving…Perhaps the whole secret of life consists in receiving that which is offered to us as a gift and responding according to the precise nature of the gift received.”
~ Sofia Cavalletti
[Madeline with the Offering, 1892 - Paul Serusier] 

• Sofia Cavalletti was a Catholic laywoman and theologian who received a doctorate in Hebrew and Comparative Semitic Languages from La Sapienza University in Rome and who was a biblical scholar. More: https://www.cgsusa.org/discover/the-cgs-method-past/history/  

• The Nabis (from the Hebrew and Arabic term for “prophets,”) were a Symbolist group founded by Paul Sérusier, who organized his friends into a secret society. Wanting to be in touch with a higher power, this group felt that the artist could serve as a “high priest” and “seer” with the power to reveal the invisible. The Nabis felt that as artists they were creators of a subjective art that was deeply rooted in the soul of the artist. While the works of the Nabis differed in subject matter from one another, they all ascribed to certain formal tenets - for example, the idea that a painting was a harmonious grouping of lines and colors.  More: https://m.theartstory.org/movement/les-nabis/