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Revelation, re-velim, or "unveiling," is the "pulling back of the curtain that hides the Infinite from the finite, God from the world" (Huston Smith, The Soul of Christianity). And, because Spirit is both within infinity and finiteness, or is transcendent and immanent, revelation is within the finite toward the infinite. The infinite, having causative priority, initiates revelation in downward causation and directs it beyond the finite to Itself.
Protestantism has often placed too much emphasis on the Bible as the sole source of revelation. This has led to the same legalism that Jesus Christ struggled against, and so did St. Paul. This is a materialistic reductionism: revelation to words, rather than wordless revelation. What I mean is an emphasis on revelation through Scripture to the lack of emphasis on a more direct means of revelation, and one that supplements revelation in Scripture, as well as revelation through nature.
Pseudo-Macarius, an early Church Father, wrote of revelation directly to the heart.
Grace carves the laws of the Spirit in the hearts of the children of light. They have no need, as a result, to look for a safe guide only in the Bible, written in ink. The grace of God carves the laws of the Spirit, and the divine mysteries too, on the tablets of the heart. (Homilies)
A passage ascribed to the prophet Jeremiah speaks in a vein similar to Pseudo-Macarius:
33"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the LORD. "I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, `You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins." (Jeremiah 31, NLT)
Contemplative Prayer is being in Silence with the Spirit of God. Within this Prayer hearts are sensitized to the Presence of Grace. We return to the heart every time we engage the Prayer. Callousness of heart is transformed into softness, receptivity, submission to the living Word. With time, we find revelation growing out of union with God. And, beyond that, as Pseudo-Macarius indicates, we come to appreciate in a felt-way mysteries that can not be known except in union with Love.
I drank from the cup,
lips touching cusp,
a drink not there and
overjoyed, my heart, with freedom,
I returned to the world below
to see Christ everywhere.
--Brian K. Wilcox
Reflection
Reflect on a time that you sensed the Spirit of God speaking directly to your heart? What was that like?
Is it possible to have a direct revelation to the heart through Scripture? Nature? Explain.
What ways do you discern God speaks to you?
In my poem above, what do you see as the meaning of "a drink not there"?
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