… the fire of Jesus …

Some of you may be aware that I am reading the letters of John of Dalyatha – a monk from the East Syrian tradition (often charicatured as Nestorian). As I continue to read his letters I see nothing of any Nestorianism (just like St. Isaac the Syrian – who is also an East Syrian from the non-Ephesine tradition) but I see a lot of genuine spiritual wisdom. Perhaps John and St. Isaac subscribed to christological doctrine we don’t – perhaps they used different words to express their faith in the Mystery (Jesus Christ) and we do them an injustice measuring them with our terminology and conceptions rather than their own but the spiritual maturity and wisdom of neither St. Isaac nor John seems to have suffered under this burden:

Feed the fire of Jesus that it might take hold of the purity of your soul. Indeed it will not be quenched from the earth of the soul on which was kindled, as long as alien waters do not come into it. By the light of this fire you will see the purity of your soul, and the beauty of the face of the Beloved when it is manifest in it. Indeed this beauty will not be visible to you outside of your soul. Nor will it be visible in it without holy purity, for without this you cannot see your own self, nor Him in your being. Afflict yourself with the desire for this, and make yourself die to life that you might see the resurrection within you.

John of Dalyatha, Letter 15, 8.

Friends this is a very important point. Previously we saw that the Intellect is a dwelling place for God – here we learn that it is also the place where teh face of the Beloved (God) manifests. We will not see this face, we will not “know” (gnosis) God as indwelling us unless we strive for it by spiritual living. This spiritual living is not just an idea, we cannot “think” our way to union with God, neither can we “work” our way to union with God; rather we must “live” our way to union with God which addresses our whole being. It requires faith in Jesus Christ, it requires receiving the Sacraments by worship in the Church, it requires our private devotions at home, and our personal ascetic effort (preferably under guidance of a spiritual father/mother – perhaps your parish priest? ).

If we live such a life, contemplatively turning inward will become a possibility to see ourselves as we truly are – after the Image of God – and it is in this place where we will come to see His face. BUt as long as our inner mirror is dirty and burried under sin, passions, unwholesome attachments to the world of the senses, we will not see the face of God. Selfknowledge, that is, knowing yourself as after the Image of God is a necessary part of knowledge of God who is the Archetype. As Origen affirmed in his On First Principles (Bk. IV, ch. 4, 9) there is “a kind of bloodrelationship” between us and God. The immaterial, bodiless, God relates to us in that our minds are also immaterial and bodiless. But worldy-mindedness, sin, passion, etc. clouds this bloodrelationship and we therefore lose the sight of our true selves and also the sight of the face of the Beloved. Sin does not merely disturb our relation with God it also causes us to lose ourselves.

Let us embark on a spiritual way of life, desiring the face of the Beloved and attain “holy purity” so that we can stand before God “naked” and se ourself as we truly are and make room in our minds for God to dwell. Lt us “feed the fire of Jesus” in this way.

Grant it o Lord!

Dn. Gregory