The light of life casts no shadow and knows no death as it turns and sees light of glory in the midst. The material body takes up space because it has length, breadth and height, but if awareness identifies exclusively with these three spatial dimensions, it plunges awareness into confusion and splits presence into divisive dualism, like demons in hell. But if awareness awakens to wisdom, it turns the three dimensions of space right round to include the three dimensions of invisible spaciousness, wisdom, glory and their oneness in the Name, integrating them with the uncreated light of timeless life in the seventh dimension of ineffable glory. Generating wholesome openness in the seventh dimension, there is no shadow of death hidden in the uncreated light of timeless life, because wisdom transfigures shallow, narrow dualism into the deep oneness of profound openness. When dualism declares war on dualism, it drags opposing energies down into demonic division, but when love’s wisdom of the Cross overcomes the shadow of death, uncreated light opens into uncreated life, curing the divisions of dualism. The loving light of life liberates shadows of death into uncreated light, yielding a rich harvest of glory, which is uncreated life.
The shadow of death descends on worlds dominated by dualistic division, just as it drags down heavens that descend as hells, but Christ not only descended to hell on Holy Saturday but eternally opens hells to the uncreated light of glory, emptying infernal vanity from glory and opening created heavens to uncreated grace. For Christ, a point in time is timeless, because he is the uncreated light of timeless life, so empties hells into uncreated heavens in every timeless moment, curing the diseases of dualism. Faith, hope and love participate in Christ’s wisdom, glory and the Name, which see through divisive delusions of dualism. So what looks like desperate, hopeless confusion is transfigured by trustworthy hope and love, once wisdom awakens to the glory of wholesome faith, renewing hope and love. Wisdom beholds the loving glory of heaven descend to earth to wed earth with the glory of heaven, transfiguring shadows of death into uncreated light of heavenly life in the Holy of Holies.
When wisdom falls from glory, it ceases to be uncreated wisdom and becomes clever sophistry, because the uncreated light of glory that inspires true wisdom is unwavering. Christ sends the Spirit of truth to testify to the presence of glory in the hearts of his saints, guaranteeing the uncreated light of life overturns created shadows of death, even in times of war. Despair turns into hope when love dawns as uncreated life, bearing witness to the reign of glory unveiled in the Name. When the ruthless dictator of a vast, nominally Orthodox nation wages war on the democracy of a nominally Orthodox nation next door, it is tempting to despair, but it is not a wholesome patriotism that does this but compulsive dualism, perhaps serving demonic division, that tears glory apart into autocratic, kleptocratic powers on one side and reasonably sound patriotic democracy defending itself on the other. There is confusion, certainly, but not in heaven, where angels and saints stand steadfast. Tanks and bombs may destroy material infrastructure but not the fierce courage of the heart. Shadows of death may descend to earth but the uncreated light of heavenly life is free to stand steadfast on earth as it has always withstood temptation in heaven.