Sown in light, reaped as light, light gives life to light as light of Holy Trinity throughout centuries of Orthodox glorification. From Abba Evagrius to Archbishop Gregory Palamas, the thread of light weaves sound coherence into Orthodox co-inherence. God enlightens those who awaken to God in his Name, illumining Abba Silvanus with the same uncreated light that illumined Saint Silouan the… Read more »
Dazzling depths of wisdom reveal dizzying heights of glory in the revelatory Name, inspiring Abba Evagrius, the Macarian ‘Homilies,’ the writings of Saint Denys, Saint Symeon the New Theologian’s ‘Hymns of Love’ and the many writings of Saint Gregory Palamas with the experience (peira) of uncreated light of glory. Ecstatic rapture is for beginners, says Saint Symeon, indicating that mature enlightenment is intrinsic… Read more »
Christian wisdom has long been distanced by centuries of dualistic thinking that imposed separation on its piercing insight, cancelling glorification. But genuine enlightenment was never totally absent, because Christ lives at the heart of all Christian mysteries, restoring glorification. Conventional clericalism imposed separation because it sought to control large numbers of passive followers, not because Christian wisdom is inherently dualistic. Both… Read more »
Christ sends the Spirit of truth when he dies on the Cross of Golgotha and is resurrected on the third day, leaving the Spirit’s truth with his bereft disciples, integral truth opening through to boundless infinity. Clinging to objective phenomena, some were bound by subjective perceptions that trapped them in self-centred delusions, but the Spirit of truth freed them all,… Read more »
Seeing no longer seeks because seeing sees, whereas seeking seeks because it cannot see. That is why desert elders live from seeing, theoria, rather than seeking ways and means to see. Ceasing to subject themselves to seeking, they see instead what turning sees. Seeking imposes separation between seeker and seeing, seer and seen, whereas turning turns the light of awareness round, seeing God at… Read more »
The still centre of infinite wisdom is love, ineffable love deeper than sentiment, transcending conceptual thought and imagination. The wonder of love bewilders the mind, awakening the heart, silencing mental chatter. Wisdom is pure awareness witnessing the meaning of love, stilling the heart beyond all expectation. The wisdom of pure awareness transcends the mental mutations of the murmering mind, seeing God… Read more »
The quintessential song of praise, ‘Hallelu Yah,’ hallows the Name of saving grace that reveals God’s reign of glory, unveiling the face of holiness in the Holy Spirit. Glorification cleaves to the revelatory Name without wavering from the praises of its glory, opening the eye of the heart to wisdom. The mercy prayed for in the Jesus Prayer is God’s loving… Read more »
The Gospel of grace reigns in God’s realms of glory but is contested in satanic realms of vainglorious pride which live as if the Gospel had been withdrawn or cancelled and grace extinguished, leaving only self-centred self-obsession and the strain and stress of saving oneself by one’s own efforts. The regime of pride imposes alienating vanity on glorification, enforcing institutionalised violence,… Read more »
Ecstatic self-emptying is mutually reciprocal: when we give ourselves to God with ecstatic self-emptying, God reciprocates, giving us himself with ecstatic self-emptying. Indeed, divine-human reciprocity, initiated by God, actually means our self-emptying is in response to God’s, whose grace is asymmetrically prior. Our lives are first divine, then humanly divine, communicating incorruptible completeness. The wisdom of the Father is revealed by… Read more »
Wisdom is alive when it crowns illumined seers, flowering with the completeness of the saving Name, bearing fruits of completeness in timeless glory. Just as love awakens love, wisdom awakens illumination and glory glorification, purifying the heart. Abiding in the Holy Spirit, illumined hearts rest in peace, trusting grace that holds nothing back, communicating the goodness of God with ineffable abundance. The… Read more »