There has been a dark night of wisdom in the west for several centuries as science and technology have drawn the energies of intelligence away from the uncreated energies of glory at centre, leaving us high and dry on the shores of empirical rationality off-centre. Wisdom handles this dark night as an unavoidable void that empties one-sided extremes and opens their exclusions into illumined integration, an embrace of luminous ascent and mystical descent. Integral Orthodox Christian wisdom unites ascent and descent in a living co-inherence, which holds the paradoxes of union steady so that they do not descend into confusion or disintegrate into division. Wisdom beholds light through light, standing steadfast in the light of the Spirit of Truth, an opening which unveils glory in the midst.
The eclipse of wisdom was a martyrdom that appeared to exclude her for centuries but bears hidden witness to her resurrection at the heart of many sacred cultures, a transfiguration that is the mystical expression of her translucence. The Beloved Disciple never ceased to prophesy just as her Magdala prayer has never failed to purify the heart. The marriage of Cana, veiling both groom and bride, never stopped turning the water of initiation into the wine of union, embracing lover and beloved in the Holy of Holies. The woman at the well was always a faithful witness to the flow of wisdom from the depths, renewing Jerusalem in every age. The oil of Chrism, poured forth from an alabaster jar in Bethany, has been perpetually poured out whenever love seeks not its own but releases self-obsession into freedom. The meeting in the paschal garden was a moment of recognition beside an empty tomb that never stops glorifying the Gospel of resurrection in every age.
As wisdom sings again, the Beloved Companion emerges from the shadows to reveal material mass as uncreated energy and secular space as uncreated light. Time is unveiled as the timeless presence of the Name, whose glory is discerned by wisdom. There is a completeness at the heart of this union of wisdom and glory, a wholeness which is marked by the sign of the cross, emptying everything out so as to gather everything in. Wisdom seeks a sanctuary in which to dwell, an openness into which she can expand. There is no limit to her loving embrace nor boundary to her translucence. She awakens hearts which see her glory and hear her still small voice. Her veiled glory turns out to be unveiled communion that pierces hearts and draws the spirit into higher and deeper union. Her eclipse reveals her dark night to be effulgent light, her absence the radiant glory of her presence.