The Spirit comforts those who mourn: the Paraclete blesses the poor in spirit with the Kingdom of heaven. The lamentation of heart-rending mourning opens heavenly realms, rendering grace on earth in exchange for unmitigated suffering. The Spirit of truth comforts all who mourn, reaching down through suffering to the ultimate ground of blessed joy. Joy does not stifle heart-rending mourning, but opens… Read more »
Stillness abides in uncreated light, revealing glory to wisdom, knowing God as God knows God, transcending worldly knowledge. Stillness awakens the inmost heart where God dwells, revealing glory to wisdom, uniting awareness with presence through the Holy Name of God. Hesychast tradition bears witness to the divine presence, partaking in the timeless life of heaven, which is God’s eternal life in heavenly… Read more »
The Beloved Disciple communicates love, having first been loved, which is why love became the overarching theme of the Fourth Gospel, the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation. Forty-two Odes of love were the Church’s first Hymn Book from the circle of the Beloved Disciple, lost for many centuries but found again by the Quaker scholar, James… Read more »
Orthodox Hesychasm centres in the heart with vigilant awareness, revealing flawless purity of heart in uncreated light, image and likeness of the radiant beauty of translucent glory. The uncreated clarity of compassionate wisdom severs the passions from their addictive clinging, transplanting them in God as passionate love of God, practicing wisdom with the directness of pure awareness. Quintessentially, the heart… Read more »
Holy doubt dismantles the worldly certainties which usurp God, parodies which parade themselves in worldly minds like false gods, claiming allegiance in opposition to the wholesome reign of God. Holy doubt works together with faith in God, supporting trust, in contrast to worldly doubt, which undermines trust in God. The ‘Book of Revelation’ contains the heart of Biblical insight into discernment between these… Read more »
The Annunciation reveals the theophany of the incarnation of Christ, announced by the Archangel Gabriel to Mary the Virgin, ‘Hail, thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.’ Mary was perplexed and asks, ‘How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?’ Consenting, she says,… Read more »
Unknowing openness humbly releases the self-centred desire to know, to be in control, to be self-centred rather than God-centred. Openness is childlike trust, faith in God which transcends proud beliefs, transcends self-righteous egoism, humbles right-thinking which usurps faith. Unknowing knows God beyond self-righteous knowledge, trusting God as God trusts God, as the Spirit trusts God in Holy Trinity, with trusting openness…. Read more »
The remembrance of God cannot stabilise until recognition of God awakens the heart, uniting awareness and energy in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit breathes life into the heart with uncreated energy, purifying the heart with uncreated light. Stillness lives from purity of heart, giving new life to Hesychast tradition, renewing it with the wisdom and glory of the Name, restoring remembrance with recognition…. Read more »
The Gospel of Jesus Christ begins with metanoia, turning, to reveal theoria, vision of God’s Kingdom, opening the eye of the heart to wisdom, consummating love of God in glorification. Wisdom conjoins heaven and earth in the glory of the Name, discerning the uncreated light of the Gospel, treasuring the pearl of great price in the womb of the heart. Embryonic union… Read more »
Hallowing the Name cannot be separated from the reign of the Name, because God is the subject and object of both, his uncreated awareness discerning uncreated presence in the Name. Purity of heart blesses those who turn and see God with the eye of wisdom, discerning uncreated glory with the single eye of uncreated light. The practice of the presence of God is… Read more »