Thursday, April 06,
2017
No matter how far we may travel
along the spiritual path, no matter whether we have just begun or whether we have
been journeying for years and years, there is always more. And this will be
true for all eternity because God is the God who was, who is and who will be.
No matter how much we may have
learned about love, there will always be more to learn.
No matter how great our
experience of love has become, it is still only the beginning, and as time goes
on, if we keep searching, our experience of love will become deeper, more
precious, more agonizingly beautiful, for God is Love and God is eternal. And
so is our journey. Eternal.
Olivier Clément speaks of “the
way into a living eternity where progress in love never comes to an end.”[1]
Some who suffer from greed might
be discouraged by this for they desire to know (and possess) everything. Some
who are perfectionists might be frustrated because no matter how hard they work
or how hard they seek, their progress will also still be imperfect. Note the
words of Diadochus of Photike (5th Century):
For what we regard as perfection is still
imperfect in the presence of the richness of God, this God who with all the
eagerness of his love longs to be our teacher.[2]
But if we can ask God to purify us of our
greed, our impatience, our perfectionism, and of anything else which prevents
us from taking delight in the journey, then we will be free to savor
what God is doing in us at every stage of our development.
But the veil of sadness is taken away from
it when it is taught that to go forward continually in its search, and never
cease raising its sights, constitutes the true enjoyment of what it desires.
Each time its desire is fulfilled the desire for higher realities is
engendered. Gregory of Nyssa
(c.330-395)[3]
I remember when I was at a very
early stage of my own spiritual journey, how inspired I was by a short text
from the Letter to the Ephesians. As the years have gone on, my appreciation
for its wisdom has continually increased, and I am sure that the increase will
never cease. Here it is:
. . . the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the
knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know
what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his
glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of
his power in us who believe . . . (Eph
1:17-19)
God bless you!
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