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OPENING PRAYER
Dear Lord, grant us the grace of so many who endured the trials of opposition and the aching times of loneliness, set apart by seeing the heights of faith through and beyond the most sacred of words and most ardent of godly passions. May we follow them to find You in the darkness that is aglow celestially with Your Word, the Light of the World. Amen.
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This writing comes as a web-response to the demonization of Christian, contemplative-mystical theology and practice over the web. I hope it encourages you in exploring prayerfully the greatness and mystery of the Trinity - not simply as an idea or a biblical teaching, but even more, a lived and growing Truth in the recesses of your deepest Heart of Hearts.
The values and teachings of Christian contemplation are rooted in Scripture, theology, great conservative and orthodox theologians, and the hymns of the Church. In light of this, I can only conclude some persons either choose willful ignorance in this regard or exhibit a childish and prejudicing fear of Mystery - likely, a mixture of both.
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Lord, how great is our dilemma! In Thy Presence silence best becomes us, but love inflames our hearts and constrains us to speak.
Were we to hold our peace the stones would cry out [Lk 19.40]; yet if we speak, what shall we say? Teach us to know that we cannot know, for the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God [1 Cor 2.11]. Let faith support us where reason fails, and we shall think because we believe, not in order that we may believe.
*A.W. Tozer. The Knowledge of the Holy.
It can be a painful thing to seek to serve you, God, among the myriad who speak so loudly of their final certainties of You, and even speak ill - or, worse, ignore - those who humbly admit their limits of knowing. How does one serve among those, of laity and clergy alike, so often fat and glutted with affirmations of celestial knowledge. And, this show of paltry human knowledge they parade as something to be adored and championed as the heights of faith.
Indeed, great has been the cost and pain, a thousand of such, in silence I have endured. But, for the sweetness of knowing You in the silence of unknowing - so great a bliss of Love beyond all other treasures of earth - I would not trade for wealth, comfort, or fame.
Indeed, to know more, as I once thought I did, I would love You the less. I, my Lord, in the darkness of unknowing, have seen a Light to which no other compares; thus, I love You the more, and more.
What shall those who have come to know You so intimately in the unknowing of Love, and, thus, have the more to say of You, say in a "church" of so many words, ideas, and affirmations that we have almost lost any sense of knowing how to hear Your Word, Who speaks like the sound of breeze in the heart?
Shall we listen to Your whispers along the Way?
Silence the human artifice that deafens us to Silence?
Have our eyes forgotten how to see, our ears to hear,
our hearts to feel Your absolute holiness
in stunned dumbness?
*Brian K. Wilcox
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A lay monk, Fray Fransisco, John of the Cross applauded, for the monk was asked, "What is God?" He replied, Dios es lo que él se quiere, which can read, "God is what He wishes to be."
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Walter C. Smith wrote the lyrics to the popular hymn "Immortal, Invisible" in 1867. He based his lyrics on I Timothy 1.17 -"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen" (AV).
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great Name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains high soaring above
thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.
To all life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish, like leaves on the tree,
then wither and perish; but nought changeth thee.
Thou reignest in glory, thou rulest in light,
thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
all laud we would render: O help us to see
'tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.
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The above hymn, well-known among United Methodists and Episcopalians, integrates the principle two traditions that influenced the theology of the early Church: the Hebrew and the Greek.
This God is not the conventional God-image that dominates much of Christianity. Rather, this God, in an assessment of The Mystical Theology, by Pseudo-Dionysius, is described well in the following:
The God of Mystical Theology is a ... not gendered, that is not politicized, not known or knowable, not even knowledge itself. This is a God that dwells in a dark cloud of unknowing. We are as able to comprehend this God about less than the earthworm living in the soil underneath my hydrangea could comprehend the internet. My hydrangea itself is able to know quantum physics better than we can know God. It is much easier to relate to a “domesticated transcendence” than the God who dwells in darkness and unknowing. That God cannot be “named and claimed”. That lion is not tame.
Yet, God is what God wishes to be. And, that is a hard lesson for many of us. I myself am in a vocation as pastor and writer that is vulnerable to an over-confidence, even an arrogance, in what one thinks he or she knows of God.
On the other hand, this Exalted Being has chosen intimacy with us, and to be known even within our unknowing. We find this put forth well in the following biblical affirmation: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 4.6, ESV). We see God, though not fully, in the Word of God. We are graced by intimacy with and love for the "glory of" God. The "glory of" is a step away from knowing God directly, however, prior to the glory, or expression, of Divine Essence.
Enjoyment of God-Glory has the advantage of giving us the energy for spiritual growth, as we grow more closely to image the glory - for a principle of spiritual growth is we grow into the image of what captivates our mind and heart: "And we all [no Christian is excluded from this grace, except by self-choice], with unveiled face [unlike Moses], beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Cor 3.18, ESV).
Mystical practice is not a denial that we can know and enjoy God. Rather, it honors the limitations integral to our human condition. Our very growth in unknowing is a growth in knowing, for the knowing of God, now, includes the sane and humble celebration of a Divine Immensity the human mind cannot grasp and the human heart cannot feel. Yet, our partial knowing and our incomplete loving causes the fire of hope to burn brighter along the Way, as we can affirm with St. Paul: "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known" (1 Cor 13.11-12, ESV).
How ironic that St. Paul would put a profound statement of mystical theology in a chapter on loving others with Divine Love. Could it be that growth in humble confession of the immensity of the Divine Presence, One baffling us, is naturally joined to growth in godly Love, both for others and God? And, is this not the ultimate virtue in Christian Life: "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor 13.13, ESV).
Therefore, mystical contemplation, as expressed in the love of the Trinity, is not a violation of the virtues of faith, hope, and love. Rather, a humble, spiritual unknowing integrated with what can be known of God, affirms and supports faith, hope, and love in Christ.
CLOSING BLESSING
Be the faith to comfort you in the darkness
Be the hope to light your way
Be the love to give your heart endurance
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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*The story about John of the Cross and Fray Francisco is from R. A. Herrera. Silent Music: The Life, Work, and Thought of St. John of the Cross.
*The paragraph "The God of Mystical Theology..." is from a blog given by a Josh at anagnosis.wordpress.com, in discussion of the Christian classic of Pseudo-Dionysius. The Mystical Theology.
*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in continuing his ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com . Brian is in need of more funding to purchase a desk-top computer, after his was hit by lightening and is inoperable.
*Brian's book of spiritual love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers or the Cokesbury on-line store, cokesbury.com .
*Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist Pastor, lives in Southwest Florida. He is a vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and seeks to inspire others to enjoy a more intimate relationship with Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused, experiential Christianity and renewal of the Church through addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons.
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