Below is a little something from Augustine on seeking the Face of God. It is something to ponder. I'll circle back on this, but for now I'm reminded of 2 Corinthians 3:17 - 18, a passage I quote fairly often.
I'll mention two other things for now, which again I'll circle back on. Augustine thinks that at some point our seeking will reach fulfillment - this is one line of historic Christian thought. The other line is that since God is Great and Infinite, that our experience of Him is ever unfolding and never ending.
Then there is the issue of "language." Is there only one way to read a word, or might there be layers to a word or image? What is the natural way to read a word? Is "natural" to me the same as "natural" to you? What do we "see" when we read a word?
Some people see things multidimensionally and others aren't prone to do that. Perhaps some of this has to do with the cultures we're raised in?
I know from working and living with folks in various facets of life that we do see and read things differently. In business I endeavored to have people around me who read and saw things differently - in fact, I knew that with some things I really needed people with a different way of seeing things. I have found the same thing with regard to the Kingdom, I need people in my life who not just have different perspectives, but who "see" things differently - isn't this one reason we are a Body?
Of course the essence is, What is the Holy Spirit conveying to us in these words and images? If Christ the Word was made flesh and we beheld His glory, then do I not also see the Word being made manifest in the images and words and structure of Scripture? In fact, ought not the Incarnation bring to glorious light the Son throughout the Bible? (Luke 24). Is there not a dynamic expansiveness to the unveiling of the Son (Ephesians 3:18)?
This calls us into a meditative, communal, and sacramental reading and receiving of the Word and Christ in and through the Bible. The Bible, if you will, is our Communion Table, it is where we receive the life of our Lord Jesus (of course, we also commune at the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist).
So I tend to look at Biblical language as anagogical language and sacramental language, rather than anthropomorphic language. I see this language as piercing the veil between the seen and unseen realms and drawing us to our Father and Lord Jesus. I see this language as elevating us into Christ and renewing our minds.
Well, we must trust our Lord Jesus to help us with these things. This is more than I intended to write for now.
From Augustine’s
63rd Meditation on John’s Gospel:
“Let us give our
mind's best attention, and, with the Lord's help, seek after God. The language
of the divine hymn is: Seek God and your soul shall live. Let us search for
that which needs to be discovered, and into that which has been discovered. He
whom we need to discover is concealed, in order to be sought after; and when
found, is infinite, in order still to be the object of our search. Hence it is
elsewhere said, Seek His face evermore. For He satisfies the seeker to the
utmost of his capacity; and makes the finder still more capable, that he may
seek to be filled anew, according to the growth of his ability to receive…
“…as the
preacher says, When a man has finished, then he begins; till we reach that life
where we shall be so filled, that our natures shall attain their utmost
capacity, because we shall have arrived at perfection, and no longer be aiming
at more. For then all that can satisfy us will be revealed to our eyes. But
here let us always be seeking, and let our reward in finding put no end to our
searching. For we do not say that it will not be so always, because it is only
so here; but that here we must always be seeking, lest at any time we should
imagine that here we can ever cease from seeking…
“Let us, on the
other hand, be walking always in the way, till we reach the end to which it
leads; let us nowhere tarry in it till we reach the proper place of abode: and
so we shall both persevere in our seeking, and be making some attainments in
our finding, and, thus seeking and finding, be passing on to that which
remains, till the very end of all seeking shall be reached in that world where
perfection shall admit of no further effort at advancement.”
Thanks for the helpful input on seeking. In thinking about the specifics of God's face, I forgot about the real emphasis of the passage--seeking.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I appreciated your thoughts on the spiritual/supernatural nature of the Word. I believe that but don't often have a transcendent experience commensurate with that reality.