Meditations

[RestlessSoul]

"The great conviction of the New Testament is that by giving his Spirit Jesus has dramatically transformed the fabric of human consciousness. Our redemption by Jesus Christ has opened up levels of consciousness that can be described by St Paul only in terms of a new creation.

God became man so that man might become God, as the early Fathers of the church expressed it. It is our destiny to become divinized by becoming one with the Spirit of God. Divinization is utterly beyond our imagination and our own powers of understanding to comprehend. But it is not beyond our capacity to experience it in love.

Staggering as this revelation is and feeble though our capacity may be to receive it, it is worked out through the ordinariness of our humanity and the ordinariness of our human life.

The big problem in Christianity is to believe it."

- John Main, Word Into Silence, 1980

 

[Sand Dancer]

God became man so that man might become God, as the early Fathers of the church expressed it.

Where can I find this please?

 

[RestlessSoul]

Where can I find this please?

The quote is from John Main, a Benedictine monk and author, but which writings of which Church Fathers he is referring to there, I don’t know.

@Rival might be able to help you

 

[Kenny]

"The great conviction of the New Testament is that by giving his Spirit Jesus has dramatically transformed the fabric of human consciousness. Our redemption by Jesus Christ has opened up levels of consciousness that can be described by St Paul only in terms of a new creation.

God became man so that man might become God, as the early Fathers of the church expressed it. It is our destiny to become divinized by becoming one with the Spirit of God. Divinization is utterly beyond our imagination and our own powers of understanding to comprehend. But it is not beyond our capacity to experience it in love.

Staggering as this revelation is and feeble though our capacity may be to receive it, it is worked out through the ordinariness of our humanity and the ordinariness of our human life.

The big problem in Christianity is to believe it."

- John Main, Word Into Silence, 1980

I wouldn’t express it that way but, that being said, it is an incredible position that God has place us.

We are united in Spirit with the Holy Spirit and being the body of Christ, we sit in the midst of the Godhead. (I just wouldn’t say that man has become God).

My two cents.

 

[Rival]

Where can I find this please?

The quote is from John Main, a Benedictine monk and author, but which writings of which Church Fathers he is referring to there, I don’t know.

@Rival might be able to help you

I believe this is Athanasius' On the Incarnation.

 

[RestlessSoul]

“One of the first great lessons in humility is that we come to wisdom and stillness and pass beyond distraction, only through the gift of God. His prayer is his gift to us and all we have to do is to dispose ourselves by becoming silent. Silence is the essential human response to the mystery of God, to the infinity of God”

- John Main, Word Into Silence, 1980

“Reason, when you speak, I cannot hear the Wise One.”

- Jalalludin Rumi, 13th Century

 

[RestlessSoul]

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

 

[RestlessSoul]

The seemingly flexible approach to moral law is actually more demanding than a rigid one as it requires more than just ticking the boxes of right actions. It demands instead a continual effort to act in good faith and in good heart. True Christian morality is not a long list of dos and don’ts. It’s a challenge to respond with love to the specific needs of every individual situation.

- Julian Baggini, The Godless Gospel