The seven spirits before the throne bear witness to the completeness of wisdom and glory that embraces temporal incompleteness with the timeless wholeness of hallowing glorification (Rev 1:4; 3:1; 4:5 and 5:6). Desert wisdom never forgot the Menorah, or sevenfold lamp that stood before the temple throne, symbol of the fullness of divine wisdom embracing heaven and earth. The sevenfold… Read more »
The throne stands under the heart addressing fear, fear for one’s survival, fear for one’s safety and fear for one’s security, three centres beneath the heart that are created to be God-centred but which may initially be egocentric or ethnocentric if they are self-centred instead of God-centred. The heart is at centre with these three centres beneath it, which are its throne,… Read more »
At this juncture, the ancient tension between past-centred conservatism and future-centred progressivism, together with every received notion of completeness, is devolving into new constellations of liberation, collaboration and co-inherence that transcend all we can grasp or possess. Today, tensions threaten to divide centre from periphery, north from south, east from west in a proliferation of new ways that press for devolutions… Read more »
Glory originates and consummates God-centred glory in the timeless completeness of God-centred wisdom. Original glory conceives us, nourishes us and matures us as we progress towards the consummation of glory in the timeless completeness of wisdom. The circular singularity of wisdom is centred on the circular wholeness of God at centre, freeing us from all that breaks the holy circuit… Read more »
Holy Orthodoxy has its strong ethnic dimensions but at heart it is the right-glorification of the Father by the Son, the Orthodox glorification of the Son by the Father and the Orthodox glorification of the Father by the Spirit in union with the Son. What is decisive, therefore, is not ethnic acculturation but the hallowing glorification of the Father by the Son… Read more »
The witness of the desert is heard in timeless stillness, HESYCHIA, giving Hesychast wisdom a timeless quality. The stages of the growth of spiritual maturation and restoration: purification, illumination and glorification, do appear to manifest in different tenses, purification anticipating illumination, glorification referring back to illumination and illumination to purification, but the sequential drama is more like a temporal play in… Read more »
Heaven and earth are filled with glory, glory which wisdom ascribes to God when the eye of the heart awakens, seeing not just empty space but glory, perceiving not only observable astronomical phenomena but presence of glory, discerning not terrestrial phenomena exclusively but creation transfigured by glory. Prophecy in the desert imparts wisdom’s vision of glory by discerning God’s revelation of… Read more »
Our lives appear quite ordinary, but wisdom beholds glory as awareness embracing presence in every perception. Indeed, awareness is most ordinary but the presence of awareness is glory unveiled in the embrace of wisdom in every moment. We live between awareness and presence, in the midst of uncreated presence unveiled to uncreated awareness, witnessing wisdom’s love of glory in purifying… Read more »