May 2009
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ
Christ is Risen!
I was greatly inspired by this quote from the famous Roman Catholic mystic, Bede Griffiths.
He wrote that God "cannot be expressed, cannot properly be thought. It is present everywhere, in everything, yet it always escapes our grasp. It is the 'Ground' of all existence, that from which all things come, to which all things return, but which never appears. It is 'within' all things, 'above' all things, 'beyond' all things, but it cannot be identified with anything. Without it nothing could exist, without it nothing can be known, yet is itself unknown. It is that by which everything is known, yet itself remains unknown. It is 'unseen but seeing, unheard but hearing, unperceived but perceiving, unknown but knowing.' We speak of 'God' but this is only a name for this inexpressible Mystery."
This wondrous truth is at the very heart of our Orthodox Faith. God is beyond all human thought and yet He is with us, in us, around us through the greatest of all Divine Energies, love. The Passion and Resurrection epitomize His love as nothing else possibly could. That this unfathomable God would become man and suffer and die for His creation should make us pause ... often. And still, He is utterly beyond all that we believe, imagine or think.
God is far larger than we can imagine and far more loving than we even dare to believe. Whatever beautiful thoughts about Him we can think, He is always more ... always. Perhaps this is what we fear most. There is no way we can understand or control the All-Powerful, Compassionate One. To admit that is to give up all hope of any real security in this world. To let go of the illusion of security leaves us utterly groundless and then we must, at last, come to trust in God who cannot be known, controlled or manipulated. Love, at last, becomes the only thing that matters.
Yours in the Risen Lord,
Fr. Antony