April 2003
WORDS TO LIVE BY
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I have spoken at times of a light in the soul that is uncreated, a light
that is not arbitrarily turned on, I am accustomed to hint at it frequently in
my sermons, for it refers to the immediacy of God, as undisguised and naked as
he is by himself and to the [divine] act of begetting. Thus I may truthfully say
that this light is rather to be identified with God than with any [perceptive]
power of the soul, even though it is essentially the same. You must know that
within my psyche this light takes no precedence over the least and coarsest of
my faculties, such as hearing, or vision, or any other that can be influenced by
heat or cold, hunger or thirst. This is due to the essential uniformity of the
soul. Thus, if one refers the soul's agents back to the soul's essence, the
agents are alike and of equal rank, but if the agents are referred to their
functions, then some do rank above others. Therefore, I say that to the extent a
person can deny himself and turn away from created things, he will find his
unity and blessing in that little spark in the soul, which neither space nor
time touches. The spark is averse to creatures, and favorable only to pure God
as he is in himself. It is not satisfied with the Father, nor the Son, nor the
Holy Spirit, nor with all three persons together, as long as their several
properties are preserved. To tell the truth, this light is not satisfied with
the unity of this fruitful conception of the divine nature, but I shall go
further and say what must sound strange - though I am really speaking the truth
- that this light is not satisfied by the simple, still motionless essence of
the divine being that neither gives nor takes. It is more interested in knowing
where this essence came from. It wants to penetrate the simple core, the still
desert, into which no distinction ever crept - neither the Father, the Son, nor
the Holy Spirit. It wants to get into the secret, to which no man is privy,
where it is satisfied by a Light whose unity is greater than its own. This core
is a simple stillness, which is unmoved itself but by whose immobility all
things are moved and all receive life, that is to say, all people who live by
reason and have their center within themselves. That we, too, may live so
intelligently, may God help us? Amen.
Meister Eckhart - Fragments
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