Illusion, Reality and Desire.
On my run this morning, one of my sentence prayers came to mind. "Lord, reveal to us the beauty of Your kingdom, and the knowledge of your unapproachable glory!" On a beautiful spring morning running in an Indiana forest, it seems to me the beauty of God is obvious. Psalm 19 declares how the glory of God is manifest in His creation. But for some, including myself most of the time, the reality of God's glory and beauty is obscure. Is that by design, that God wants to hide from us? Or is it due to our spiritual vision?
I think most of the time it is the latter. "God is the Lord and has revealed himself, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" is a refrain from the Psalms we hear at Matins. While God has revealed himself, it seems he doesn't intend to knock us over the head and make himself obvious. There has to be desire on our part to see Him. "Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened." While the revelation of God is completely spontaneous and at his will, for us to realize that vision requires preparation on our part. That preparation is with our spiritual eyes. We certainly can't see God face to face, but we can behold his presence in our hearts, our spirits.
Which brings me to the point of something I read in Merton's "The Inner Experience" this morning. "There are thousands of Christians walking about the face of the earth bearing in their bodies the infinite God of whom they know practically nothing...God does not manifest himself to these souls because they do not seek him with any real desire...They belong to illusion, to passion, to external things. They are content to occupy their minds with trivial things. But desire is the most important thing in the contemplative life."
Too often humans are focused on what we see, feel and perceive with our 5 senses. These things can be good, and can lead us to a knowledge of God's glory, but ultimately they are illusion. "While we look not at that which is seen, but at that which is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." II Corinthians 4:18. God is real. His reality is beyond our comprehension. Yet he has chosen to reveal himself and his glory through our spirits. Once I understand that, and seek God in the right place, his glory can manifest itself to me. To perceive any concept of the Almighty, I must desire him with all my heart, and look with my spiritual eyes.
I think most of the time it is the latter. "God is the Lord and has revealed himself, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" is a refrain from the Psalms we hear at Matins. While God has revealed himself, it seems he doesn't intend to knock us over the head and make himself obvious. There has to be desire on our part to see Him. "Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened." While the revelation of God is completely spontaneous and at his will, for us to realize that vision requires preparation on our part. That preparation is with our spiritual eyes. We certainly can't see God face to face, but we can behold his presence in our hearts, our spirits.
Which brings me to the point of something I read in Merton's "The Inner Experience" this morning. "There are thousands of Christians walking about the face of the earth bearing in their bodies the infinite God of whom they know practically nothing...God does not manifest himself to these souls because they do not seek him with any real desire...They belong to illusion, to passion, to external things. They are content to occupy their minds with trivial things. But desire is the most important thing in the contemplative life."
Too often humans are focused on what we see, feel and perceive with our 5 senses. These things can be good, and can lead us to a knowledge of God's glory, but ultimately they are illusion. "While we look not at that which is seen, but at that which is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." II Corinthians 4:18. God is real. His reality is beyond our comprehension. Yet he has chosen to reveal himself and his glory through our spirits. Once I understand that, and seek God in the right place, his glory can manifest itself to me. To perceive any concept of the Almighty, I must desire him with all my heart, and look with my spiritual eyes.
posted by Jeff at
11:04 AM
