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Boo!
Now, do I have your attention?
Some say I am a logical guy.
Some say they do not understand much of what
Goes on inside my head.
A clown just danced through Here.
I love the funny side of God!
Do you?
When I—like Now—have imbibed enough of Him,
I just speak, and I really do not care if it makes sense
To those outside the Tavern. This is Tavern Talk, and
If others were not offended by it, I would need to drink
Some more, then, speak again, or just stay sprawled out, speechless, on the floor,
amazed that He loves me so.
Church can never give you
This amazement!
If this scent rising from your neck, O Love,
Delights my heart, with such delight, tonight,
And the reflection of something unspeakably captivating
Pleasures me through your eyes: I know not what—
Oh! The blossoms falling through this dark sky,
Onto this bed of mine
(I always look forward to this tryst at night),
While the stars and I share secrets those who know
Would gladly give up all knowledge to know,
To have one taste of this Truth that our hearts feel
But no words have ever spoken, speak, or can speak:
Oh Bliss! Oh Bliss!—
Your essence, my Love, I hear only echoes of,
Your energies, my Beloved, have ravished my heart, tonight—
Did someone say “sleep”?—
And left the mind totally a wreck.
I have passed through the two worlds and, now,
Know This.
When we are like this, together,
I need no other.
All thought of need,
All thought of other,
Even memory or anticipation,
Are strangers to this Union,
Division cannot enter Here,
Where we two are mingling One.
Hush!
Someone just took a theology book and threw it against the wall…
Every thought of God died, for there is only God, Here.
Now, why did we fear being honest about This
For so many years?
Should lions be afraid of house cats?
Should the bear run from the lizard?
How could a Lover not share the joy of Canaan
With those who are sweating and slaving in Egypt?
Some persons share ideas,
While we drink Wine—
In this Tavern, we are laughing
At theories of the scholars,
We are saddened by the sermons of pious preachers
Who bore persons crying out, without knowing, wanting to
Make Love with the Truth Itself. You.
Simply because so many preachers want to dress up in their knowledge,
And impress others with it, does not mean seekers of Love do not want to run around naked in this Paradise of Grace.
Why share knowledge when you can share Truth Itself?
No creed ever made wild love with God.
No book ever led one to be penetrated by the Beloved.
No dogma ever birthed God in a human heart.
If only the citadel of thought and polity that guard the entrance
To the Holy of Holies would just burn down,
We could dance and sing over
The ashes left behind!
There are a myriad Resurrections,
And all lead to Life.
The flowing Light of Godhead is dropping petals all around—
This is too much fun to keep writing about it…
Bye!
—Brian K. Wilcox
From the early Church and emphasized especially in the thought of the Eastern Church, for example by Gregory of Palamas (b. 1296), is the distinction between God’s essence and God’s energies. As noted by James Harpur, explaining the distinction, “God, in his essence, may be unknowable; but his uncreated energies, in which he is wholly present, can be known by divine grace” (Love Burning in the Soul). Another Early Church Father, Basil the Great, said, “It is by His energies that we say we know our God; we do not assert that we can come near to the essence itself, for His energies descend to us, but His essence remains unapproachable.” This is one helpful way to speak of the paradox of the Divine, but in Union there is no longer distinction between essence and energies. Union is the experience of the Oneness from which Multiplicity arises and returns. As the Buddhists teach, when one has crossed the River to the other side—Surprise! There was never another side. Likewise, when one has passed through the energies to the essence—Surprise! There is only One. However, this One is a One that shows Itself as Many. To know the One, know the Many. In knowing the One, one is able to dance with the Many. In the One, then, there is no longer heaven and hell, friend and enemy, love and hate, for One cannot in Itself be other than complete Singularity, or it would not be One; whereas the distinctions are qualities, all depending on their existence as made possible by the One. Therefore,the truth of the distinctions relies on the truth of Oneness, not the other way around.
Prayer
Breath of God, thank you for letting us speak about You. We try, but our words fail: Thankfully! Teach us how to be quiet, and sink into Christ’s arms and rest our heads on his bosom, and cease from trying to know what we cannot know and are not meant to know. Teach us to laugh with you, too. Yea!
What metaphor most speaks to you of enjoying Union in God?
OneLife Ministries is a pastoral outreach and nurture ministry of the First United Methodist Church, Fort Meade, FL. For Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Counseling, spiritual formation workshops, Christian meditation retreats, or more information about OneLife, write Rev. Dr. Brian K. Wilcox at briankwilcox@comcast.net.
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