"The daily discovery of the "true self" that marks the path of salvation, is the fruit of love. It is the constant realization that my life is not my own, but is rather found both within and somehow outside myself. Or perhaps it is more correct to say that "outside myself" is something of a false concept. We must say "something of a false concept," for the true self is not the loss of identity, a blending of the self with all else: it is communion.
The sacraments, then, are not discrete actions of the Church designed to enhance our spiritual experience: they are revelations of the way of life. For in every case, the sacraments are the life of communion, whether Ordination or Eucharist, Baptism, Chrismation, Matrimony, etc. It is for this reason that Patriarch Bartholomew can observe that "the whole creation is a sacrament."
...Communion is not a quality or an activity of life - it is the very essence of life - its sine qua non. For this reason the faithful are taught to pray for the departed, to know and share in the prayers of the saints, and to believe that we are helped by their prayers and they benefit from ours. In such things we are not being taught how to pray, we are being taught how to live."
+ Fr Stephen Freeman, Are we connected?, http://glory2godforallthings.com/2013/07/16/are-we-connected/
