Grace and Glory

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We fall from grace when the glory of grace is ascribed to ourselves or to something created instead of to God.  We fall from glory when the uncreated glory of grace is confused with something created.  The fall from grace is a fall from God-centred glorification of God.  We fall short of the glory that glorifies God in his Name.  Right glorification of God is the meaning of Holy Orthodoxy, so when we confuse Orthodoxy with something created such as our ethnic identity, we fall short of the glory of God’s God-centred glorification of God: Holy Trinity.  We fall from the grace of God by failing to ascribe glory to God for what is God’s, which is what demons do.  Demonic refusal to ascribe the glory of grace to God makes us self-centred like them, not God-centred like God and this self-centred self-obsession separates us from union with God because we have confused ourselves at centre with God.  Confusion decimates union and division destroys communion, glory having fallen short of God’s God-centred glorification of God.  Grace is still grace but glory is misconstrued whenever we imitate demons.  Grace is the uncreated light of God’s Name ‘I AM,’ whose all-embracing radiance is the wisdom of uncreated awareness, God’s ‘I,’ and the glory of uncreated presence, God’s ‘AM.’  Wisdom is active as uncreated awareness and glory is receptive as uncreated presence.  So wisdom’s God-centred glorification of God actively restores us from all falls from grace and receptively releases all short-fall from glory such as vainglory, which spawns many falls from grace.

The ladder of glory is a ladder of wisdom too, because the light above is the light below and the glory above is the glory below.  ‘As above, so below’, is a well-known saying passed on by ancient seers.  The crown of glory above is mirrored in the throne of glory below, just as the crown of wisdom above is reflected  through the throne of wisdom below.  Grace extends below just as grace extends above, so there is no end to the expanse of grace, whether above or below.  But oceanic grace is purifying fire when it encounters confusion and healing waters when it encounters division.  Glory is purgatorial fire when we are undergoing purification but manifests as waters of light when we are undergoing illumination.  When glorification begins to move like a chariot throne over the ineffable waters of light and fire, glory resounds as liberating glorification that purifies and illumines, turning confusion back into union and separation into holy communion.  Grace comes from God and returns to God, so as glorification encounters falls from grace, it restores glory to the Father, but it also glorifies the Son, like the Holy Spirit.  Holy Orthodoxy is this glorification of the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, but if nobody lives throne vision or experiences crowning, Orthodoxy becomes nominal and formal, no longer God’s glorification of God in his Name.

Glorification restores grace to grace by restoring glory to glory, spreading out over the endless expanse of flaming waters of purifying fire and over shining waters of uncreated light.  Where fire and light unite, in communion of glory with wisdom, there is unspeakable joy and ineffable blessing.  When the glory of grace is ascribed to God through God-centred glorification, God’s God-centred image of God transforms into God’s God-centred likeness to God as Holy Trinity.  Wisdom ascribes glory to God in his Name ‘I AM,’ meaning that the invocation of God’s Name restores glory to the Father, through the Son in the Holy Spirit.  The limitless expanse of grace is holy and beautiful when glory restores glory to glory as Holy Trinity.  Glory rides the expanse of grace as a chariot throne, rejoicing in God, as glory moves through God into God.  Glorification restores glory to God so grace can give God-centred blessing to all.  Grace is pure joy when wisdom restores glory to God.  Hells are heavens for glory because wisdom descends to ascend with them and restore them to glory as glorification in Holy Trinity.  Wisdom knows we come from grace and to grace we are returning, but glory knows that wisdom is aborted by our falls until glory restores wisdom to glory.  Love’s glory is revealed as the wisdom of the Cross restoring peace and joy to all.  Completeness of glory is Great Peace, also called Great Restoration.  ‘I AM’ in glory rides flaming waters of luminous grace as wisdom’s chariot throne, God’s God-centred glorification of God turning confusion into union and division into communion.  

‘I AM’ the Holy Spirit is the Spirit that indwells all spirits, restoring glory to the Father through the Son.  ‘I AM’ also reigns in the Kingdom of glory as its anointed king, Christ revealing God’s saving Name in the midst.  ‘I AM’ is YAH EHYEH generating ‘I AM’ the Son, ‘I AM’ from ‘I AM,’ light from light, God from God.  The paternal Ancient of Days and filial ‘I AM’ of hosts is one ‘I AM’ as the Spirit illumines angels and archangels as well as saints.  God’s tri-une ‘I AM’ is enthroned on the waters and his ethereal radiance raises him on high above them as well as sustaining him in them, far beneath them.  For there is no hell that can shut him out, just as there is no heaven that can exclude him.  His throne of glory is a Cherubic Hymn chanting HALLELU YAH, extending from the heaven of heavens above to the Holy of Holies here below.  His Kingdom comes when time is no more and glory restores glory to glory.  He rides hells as heavens wherever he goes and we sing his Cherubic Hymn, enthroning him wherever we turn.  ‘I AM’ is the centre of centres which has been called the middle pillar, ‘I AM’ in the midst of each heaven and ‘I AM’ at centre of every prophet and saint.  When time ends and the Age to Come finally comes on the Day of the Holy Name, Christ appears as wisdom and glory in every realm and in every age, in every patriarch and every prophet.  As purification, his throne of glory is a river of fire and as illumination, an ocean of light, but as wisdom and glory, awareness is presence and presence is awareness, transcending all imagery.  Cherubic seers know as they are known, just as in Seraphic sages, uncreated fire burns away all that obscures God in the midst.  Angelic motion is circular, so all-seeing wheels of vision encircle every heaven, Christ spiralling in and out of every realm.  Stillness is the Holy of Holies at rest in the midst but it, too, embraces ‘I AM’ at centre, unveiling Christ’s humble omnipresence and gracious omniscience.

Grace is glory given and wisdom received as purifying fire and uncreated light, opening to glorification of God in Holy Trinity.  The Cherubic throne comes full circle when wisdom crowns what glory enthrones, embracing all realms of grace.  The archangel Michael is the angel of likeness to God presiding over every transformation of God’s God-centred image into his God-centred likeness.  The archangel Gabriel is strong in God, unveiling God’s glorification of God with the uncreated strength of direct revelation.  The archangel Raphael is the angel of divine healing, making whole by grace whatever is broken or diseased.  The archangel Oriel or Nuriel is the angel of uncreated light, turning hearts from delusive darkness into deifying light.  All angels and archangels bear witness to ‘I AM’ at centre in the midst, just as all prophets and saints turn and see God in the glory of his Name.  HALLELU YAH is the traditional, untranslated Name of praise expressing glorification above and so also glorification here below.  Invocation of this glorious Name opens heavens of grace above but also realms of grace below.  Grace restores to grace all whom glory restores to glory, deifying restorative glorification being the sacred function of God’s saving Name.

Patriarchs and prophets preside over their respective heavens but it is the Name ‘I AM’ that reigns at centre in the midst.  The Name is rigour with regard to what obscures its resonance as glory, but grace with regard to what reflects its radiance as wisdom.  Grace at centre manifests as rigour off-centre when confusion or division intrude.  Rivers of fire on the periphery guard seas of light at centre, ensuring the Name first purifies in order then to illumine every heart.  Glorification of God is God-centred so wisdom discerns the glory of grace with God-centred glorification.  This is the glory of love taught by the wisdom of the Cross, wisdom which embraces what is intelligible with what transcends all intelligibility.  Love remains when all else falls away, but love transcends all attempts to comprehend it.   The expanse of love’s glory embraces the expanse of grace in such a way that rivers of fire release into love’s ethereal breath, communicated by the Holy Spirit restoring glory to the Father through the Son.  The Kingdom of heaven veils glory from vanity but unveils glory to humble love, preserving the Name from vanity so as to hallow the Name with glory.  The Kingdom comes when the Name is hallowed, but remains firmly in the future when vanity rides roughshod over love’s mysteries.  The throne of glory reveals the reign of God, but God’s footstool subjects what contests that rule by suppressing it underfoot.  These ancient symbols transmit wisdom that discerns glory but transcends every image in imageless prayer of the Spirit in the heart.  The Name is hallowed so the Kingdom of love’s glory comes, restoring glory to God in Holy Trinity.  Glory of grace is loved by humble wisdom, inspired by God’s God-centred glorification of God in Holy Trinity.