I can know my brother's or sister's solitude through the reflection that it casts, through charity, upon the solitude of my own soul.

"Compassion and respect enable us to know the solitude of another by finding him in the intimacy of our own interior solitude.  It discovers his secrets in our own secrets . . . If I respect my brother's solitude, I will know his solitude by the reflection that it casts, through charity, upon the solitude of my own soul."

Thomas Merton
Trappist Monk

Photo: A 1600 year-old Bristlecone Pine casts a shadow on the rim of Cedar Breaks Amphitheater;  Cedar Breaks National Monument, UT; September 1, 2012