Imagine if all the tumult of the body were to quiet down,
along with all our busy thoughts about earth, sea and air;
if the very world should stop, and the mind cease thinking
about itself, go beyond itself, and be quite still;
if all the fantasies that appear in dreams and imagination
should cease, and there be no speech, no sign:
Imagine if all things that are perishable grew still...
And imagine if that moment were to go on and on,
leaving behind all other sights and sounds
but this one vision which ravishes and absorbs and fixes the beholder in joy...
-Saint Augustine
