Glorification unites purification with Illumination as communion of wisdom and glory. From the perspective of purification, illumination lies in the future and glorification is concealed in eternity way beyond. From the perspective of illumination, purification is due to the presence of uncreated light illumining the heart but glorification is perceived to belong to the reign of God that is not yet… Read more »
The Holy Spirit is the giver of life, unveiling eternal life in Christ to the glory of the Father, communicating deifying life without confusing the uncreated with the created or dividing their holy union from the communion of saints. The Spirit is holy because it grants eternal life to those who turn and see the glory of God, unveiling liberating release… Read more »
Solitude was always persecuted by those who lived in terror of silence and martyred by those who distrust stillness. The original symphony of verbal prayers and stillness was lost when stillness was crucified. Desert seers understand why persecution of stillness was always a martyrdom of silent solitude but also know that glorification of God precedes and succeeds the Cross of loving stillness…. Read more »
Heaven and earth are full of the glory of God, surrounding awareness with the presence of God in his Name, encircling the breathing spirit with the oneness of the Holy Spirit. One with Christ and the Father, the Spirit imparts wisdom in Christ that discerns fulness of glory everywhere, empowering purification to resurrect with Christ as illumination and illumination to ascend… Read more »
The wisdom of the Beloved Disciple inspired the Fourth Gospel and the Book of Revelation in different ways, enabling three epistles to speak of her love of her Beloved who loved her, which is not mere sentiment but the profoundest wisdom. Love of her wisdom regenerates Holy Orthodoxy way beyond the boundaries of the old Byzantine Empire, inspiring many and speaking through… Read more »
In the beginning, the Logos names the Holy Name upstream from ordinary language, showing us how to turn the light of awareness round to awaken the heart to the glory of God. The Name unveils the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, crowning saints with uncreated light. Crown and throne are ancient symbols of uncreated glory pointing to… Read more »
There used to be talk in Papal circles of the two lungs of the Latin West and the Byzantine East, but this was to forget the Oriental Churches of Antioch and Edessa, of Nisibis and Tibet, of India and China. Christians were first called Christians in Antioch and the Oriental Churches never ceased to bear witness to Christ as desert seers… Read more »
Wisdom calls God ‘Abba, Father,’ because wisdom is friend, ahab, of God, who transforms enemies of God into ‘friends of God and prophets’ (Wisdom 7:27). To be a friend of God is to commune with wisdom, friend of God, in divine friendship, like Abraham, friend and co-companion of God. A friend of God loves wisdom, whose friendship with God is far… Read more »
The purified heart beholds the vision of God that illumines saints in the age to come, restoring glory to God that was lost when the fall deprived seers of wisdom. The ineffability of wisdom discerns the openness of glory, awakening wisdom to the spontaneous presence of glory in the Oneness of the Name. The Spirit of truth abides with Christ… Read more »