Wednesday, February 1, 2012

February 1st

I ordered three books a week ago, and the first one arrived: Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, by Richard Rohr.

Right off the bat, I found this:

What is this awesome mystery
that is taking place within me?
I can find no words to express it;
my poor hand is unable to capture it
in describing the praise and glory that belongs
to the One who is above all praise,
and who transcends every word...
My intellect sees what has happened,
but it cannot explain it.
It can see, and wishes to explain,
but can find no word that will suffice;
for what it sees is invisible and entirely formless,
simple, completely uncompounded,
unbounded in its awesome greatness.
What I have seen is the totality recapitulated as one,
received not in essence but by participation.
Just as if you lit a flame from a flame,
it is the whole flame you receive.

-St. Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022)

I'm not entire sure what he means by "the totality recapitulated as one," but the rest of it is great.

I am really looking forward to reading this book.