Letters 1 part 13/17

From these, then, tell me, O my God and Maker, which is better for me, which is profitable, and which is pleasing and perfect in your sight?

Yes indeed, do not hide it from me, O all-compassionate Word!

Hear what you ask, write what you hear.

I am God without beginning, I am Master by nature, King of the heavens and of the nether regions, and all — even the unwilling — become my servants.

For I am the Creator of all things, and Judge, and Master, and now I am, and I shall be, unto the ages of ages; but I never compel the one who is unwilling — rather I wish that servitude be freely chosen, self-determined, that fear be exercised, and that love be shown by my subjects of their own accord.

But the others I have not yet known, nor have I been known by them; therefore they call me harsh, they call me unfeeling, they name me unjust — these children of the unjust one.

Those, then, who insult me, and revile me, and reproach me — how will they submit to you, or how will they accept you as their teacher? Tell me.

And how will wolves ever regard you as a shepherd, or how will they, being beasts, follow your voice?

Go out, flee, and remove yourself from the midst of such men; for even if you should save them, you would lose yourself — what benefit is the world to you, if it is saved through you at such a cost?

Observe that I too kept this while in the world: for I am shepherd and master of those who are willing, but of the others I am indeed Creator and God by nature, yet I am by no means their king, nor at all the leader of those who do not take up the cross and follow me; for they are children, servants, and vessels of the adversary.

See, then, and mourn for them, if possible, every hour.

For being called from darkness to unsetting light, from death to life, out of Hades into the heavens, from things transient and corruptible to eternal glory, they grow angry and rage against their teachers, and weave against them plots of every kind, and choose rather to die than to depart from darkness and from the deeds of darkness, and to follow me.

These, tell me, how will you shepherd? How will you go before them? How will you guide them, tell me — when they desert of their own accord to the fire, attach themselves to the enemy, and eagerly do with him the opposite of my commandments?

How will you shepherd them as sheep? How will you lead them, tell me, to the pastures of my commandments? To the water of my wills you would lead them out; to the intelligible mountains of the mystical contemplations of my ineffable glory — through which those who behold it despise the glory below, and forget all sensible things, and consider all these to be as a shadow and as smoke?

Tell me, how will you make your adversary your advocate? How will you persuade your warring enemy to be your friend?

Even should they partake of gifts lofty and great, they have hidden venom in their heart, which, seizing the opportunity, they vomit forth all at once, and they do not shudder to kill their own benefactors mercilessly, without pity — O utmost madness!

These are imitators of Cain, these are worse than Lamech, these are of the same disposition as Saul, imitators of the Hebrews, and zealous followers of Judas, heirs of the noose.

If you seek to lead these, see where you will end up.

For they will not turn back to wherever you wish, but they will compel you to walk in their own way, and to fall into perdition before them, and to descend lower, to the very bottom of Hades, having them, in every case, following after you.

But if you should be wholly unwilling to become like them, and should refuse to be carried away with their counsels, or to share in their evil deeds, you will have discord, strife, and irreconcilable war.

And from them, what will happen to you, what will befall you, and what will you gain?

Listen, and I will tell you briefly: before all else, you will not be able to be my servant at all, for I do not wish my servant to fight — not at all.

For your death will profit the others nothing, as my death was the life of the world; rather, you will become for them a cause of judgment, and you yourself will depart from this life without boldness before God.

It is better, then, to be shepherded than to shepherd such men at all — rather, care above all for your own, and pray for them and for all men, that all may turn and come to full knowledge, and teach and instruct those among them who are willing.

Do not, however, compel them to do what you teach, but speak my words, and exhort them to keep these as procurers of eternal life.

These very words will stand when I come to judge, and will judge each one of these according to his desert; and you will remain blameless, wholly uncondemned, because you did not hide the silver of my sayings, but gave to all as much as you yourself had received.

This is acceptable to me; this became the work of my apostles and disciples, according to my commandments: to proclaim me as God to the whole world, and to teach my wills and my commandments, and to leave them in writing to mankind.

So you too must strive to do and to teach; and to those who are wholly unwilling to hear my words, say what I too said to those who then said, 'This word is hard, and who can hear it?'

And I said: "If you do not wish it so, go, each of you, as you will, and do as you please" — leaving the whole matter to their own authority and choice, to choose death or life.

For no one has ever become good without choosing it, nor will the unbeliever become faithful without willing it, nor will the lover of the world ever become a lover of God, nor will the perverse man, unwillingly, change his own disposition and become wholly good; for no one has become evil by nature, but by intention; so likewise, from an evil and wicked intention and disposition, he will become good and virtuous — if he wills it — but if he does not will it, he will in no way become so.

No one unwilling has ever achieved virtue in the world; no one unwilling is saved. Seek nothing more than this; rather, strive to save yourself and those who hear you, if indeed you should find on earth a man having ears to hear and listening to your words.

So I will do, Master, as you have commanded me; but grant your help, grant your grace to me, your unworthy servant, O my God, that I may forever glorify you and hymn your might with unceasing voices, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

What the "according to the image" is, and how man is fittingly understood as the image of the archetype; and that he who loves his enemies as benefactors is an imitator of God, and having thereby become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, becomes god by adoption and by grace — known only to those who are moved by the Holy Spirit.

Glory, praise, hymn, and thanks to the God of all, who brought all creation from non-being into being by word alone and by his own will, in a Trinity of hypostases inseparable and undivided, yet one — one nature, one glory, one power there is, and likewise one will.

This alone is the creator of all things; this it is that fashioned me wholly from clay, and having given me a soul, set me upon the earth, and gave me to see the light and to behold in it this whole sensible world — the sun, I mean, and the moon, the stars and the heaven, the earth and the sea, and all things that exist between them.

He gave also mind and reason — but attend now to the word!

According to the image of the Word, then, reason has been given to us; for we are rational beings from the Word who is without beginning, uncreated, incomprehensible — my God.

Truly, the soul of every man is, according to the image, a rational image of the Word.

How so? Tell me, teach me.

God from God, God the Word, co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit.

So then my soul too is according to his image; for having mind and bearing reason, it holds these undivided in essence and unconfused, likewise consubstantial — the three being one, united, yet also distinguished.

If you remove one of these, you have utterly removed them all together; for a soul without mind, without reason, will be equal to the irrational creatures; and apart from the soul, mind or reason cannot subsist.

So then, from the image, understand the archetype!

Without the Spirit there is neither Father nor his Word; for the Father is spirit, and his Son is spirit, even though he clothed himself in flesh, and the Spirit again is God; for both are consummated as one in nature and essence, just as mind, soul, and reason are one.

But the Father begot the Word ineffably.

Just as mind comes from my soul, or rather, is in my soul, so the Spirit comes from the Father — or rather, abides in the Father and proceeds from him ineffably.

and it makes itself known to all, yet is not separated from it; indeed, the soul also begets the word and holds it within itself. Thus understand the Father: that he begot the Word, that he begets unceasingly, and the Father is never at all separated from his Son, but is seen in the Son, and the Son abides in him.

This exact image, even though it is dim, the discourse has demonstrated — an image which you will never behold, nor ever understand, unless you first purify yourself, unless you first wash away the filth of your image, unless you draw it out from where it lies buried in the passions, and wipe it completely clean, and likewise strip it, and whiten it as snow.

But when you have done these things, and have well purified yourself, and have become a perfect image, even then you will not see the archetype, nor ever understand it, unless it be revealed to you through the Holy Spirit.

but also of love for mankind, through endurance of trials and love for enemies.

For this is what love for mankind is: that you do good to your enemies and love them as friends, as true benefactors; that you pray for all who mistreat you; that you hold an equal, heartfelt love toward all, both good and wicked; and that you lay down your soul for all, each day — for their salvation, I mean — that even one might be saved, or indeed all, if it be possible.

He will send the divine Spirit — I do not mean another soul such as you already had, but the Spirit, I say to you, who is from God; and he will breathe into you, and dwell in you, and tabernacle in you essentially, and illumine you, and make you radiant, and recast you wholly, and render the corruptible incorruptible, and renew again the house grown old — the house of your soul, I mean.

O mystery unknown to all who are subject to passion — unknown to lovers of the world, unknown to lovers of glory, unknown to the arrogant, unknown indeed to the wrathful, unknown also to those who bear grudges, unknown to lovers of the flesh, unknown to lovers of money, unknown to the envious, unknown to all revilers, unknown to hypocrites, unknown also to gluttons, unknown to those who eat in secret and to drunkards and fornicators; unknown to idle talkers, unknown to foul-mouthed speakers, unknown also to the slothful, unknown to those who neglect the hourly repentance, unknown to those who do not mourn unceasingly, day after day; unknown to the unsubmissive, unknown to the contentious, unknown to those who follow their own rule; unknown to those who think themselves to be something, when they are nothing; unknown to those who boast — yet more, who take delight — in bodily stature or strength, or beauty, or any other gift whatsoever, I say to you; unknown to those who have not acquired a pure heart; unknown to those who do not ask, with fervor of heart, to receive the divine Spirit; unknown to those who do not believe that the divine Spirit is given, even now, to those who seek it.

and drives away the divine Spirit; for one who disbelieves does not ask, one who does not ask does not receive, and one who does not receive remains dead.

But who will not weep for the dead man, because, though dead, he thinks he is alive?

The dead are not yet able either to see the dead or to mourn them at all; it is the living who, seeing them, mourn.

For they behold a strange wonder: those who have been put to death yet living, and even walking about; the blind who suppose they see, and the deaf who, being truly deaf, imagine they hear; for they live and perceive and hear as cattle do, and think as the senseless do, in a perception without perception, in a life that has been put to death.

For it is possible to live while not living, to see while not seeing, and to hear while not hearing.

For they have not at all been born of God, that they might indeed live; nor have they received the Spirit, nor have their pupils regained sight, nor have they beheld the divine light; and this not having come about, they have remained deaf altogether.

Such men, then, tell me, how shall they be called Christians?

or rather, it is Christ speaking through him: "The first man was assuredly created earthy, of the earth; the second man came down from the heavens."

Attend to what is said: as the first man is earthy, so all who are born from him are born earthy; but as Christ, the heavenly Master, is, so too are all who have believed in him heavenly — having been born from above, and likewise baptized by the All-Holy Spirit. As is that which begot them — truly God — so also those who are born from him are such: gods by adoption from God, and all sons of the Most High, as the divine mouth declares.

You have heard the words of God, you have heard how he distinguishes the faithful from the rest, how he has given a sign and a token to his servants, that they might not be led astray by the words of alien teachers.

"The first," he says, "is of the earth, because he was created earthy; but the second man, the Master of all, came down from the heavens."

The first brought death upon all men, and corruption, by his transgression; but the second bestowed upon the world — and even now provides to all the faithful — light, life, and incorruption.

Have you heard Christ speaking through him, teaching men what sort of persons those who have believed in him and who demonstrate their faith by their works turn out to be?

Do not, then, doubt any longer: if you are a Christian, such as Christ, the heavenly one, is, such must you yourself also be; but if you are not such, how will you be called a Christian?

For if the Master is heavenly, and he says that those who have believed in him must certainly be heavenly likewise, then all who are minded of worldly things, all who live according to the flesh, do not belong to God the Word who came down from above, but altogether to the earthy man fashioned from the earth.

Think thus, hold thus, believe thus, and seek to become such a heavenly person, as he said who came from the heavens and gives life to the world.

This is also the bread that comes down from there, which those who eat shall never see death at all; for being heavenly, they shall be forever, having wholly put off corruption and put on incorruption, having cast off death and clung to life.

For who from the beginning of the age has ever been such — of the sons of Adam, I mean — before the Master of all things heavenly and earthly came down from heaven?

He took our flesh and gave the divine Spirit, as we have often said, and this — as God — he grants us in every way.

What I have often told you, I will now also declare.

He becomes as a divine baptismal pool, most radiant with light, and embraces all the worthy whom he finds within — and how shall I express, how shall I fittingly describe what takes place?

The divine Spirit, being God, wholly refashions those whom he takes within himself, renews them entirely, and makes them new in a manner beyond wonder.

How, and in what manner, does he not at all partake of their defilement?

Being of the same nature as Christ, likewise consubstantial and of equal glory, and united with him, he makes these persons wholly like Christ.

For the Master does not begrudge that mortals should be seen equal to himself by divine grace, nor does he disdain that his servants should become like himself; rather, he delights and rejoices to behold us, who were mere men, having become such by grace as he is and exists by nature.

For being a benefactor, he wills us to be such as he himself is.

For if we are not truly like him in exactness, how shall we be united to him, as he said? And how shall we abide in him, if we are not such? And how shall he himself abide in us, when we are unlike him?

Knowing this clearly, then, make haste to receive the Spirit that is from God and divine, that you may become such as this discourse has shown — heavenly and divine, such as the Master has spoken of — so that you may also become heirs of the heavenly kingdom forever.

and how otherwise shall you enter the kingdom together with the heavenly ones, and reign, and be together with the King and Master of all?

Run, therefore, all of you, with eagerness, that we may be counted worthy to enter thereby into the kingdom of heaven, and to reign together with Christ, the Master of all, to whom belongs all glory, together with the Father and the Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

On the most exact theology; and that he who does not see the light of the glory of God is worse off than the blind.

O my compassionate God, my Maker, shine upon me still more with your unapproachable light, that you may fill my heart with joy.

Yes — be not angry, yes — do not forsake me, but illumine my soul with your light; for you yourself, my God, are your light.

For though you are called by many and various names, you yourself are one; and this one is unknown to every nature, and invisible and ineffable — which, when it is shown forth, is called by every name.

...yet again indivisibly divided, the three into one, and the one indeed into three.

For one is he who made all things — Jesus Christ, together with the Father who is without beginning, and the co-beginningless Holy Spirit.

The Trinity, then, is one, wholly undivided; the three are in the one, and the one is in the three; or rather, for me the three are one, and the one is again three. Understand this, worship it, believe it, now and unto the ages.

For this One, when imagined, when it shines and illumines, when it is partaken of and imparted, is every good thing; therefore among us it is called not one but many: light and peace and joy, life, food and drink, garment, mantle, tabernacle and divine house, dawn, resurrection, rest and bath, fire, water, river, fountain of life and stream, bread and wine, the new seasoning of the faithful, the banquet, the delight which we mystically enjoy, the sun truly that never sets, the ever-shining star, the lamp shining within the house of the soul.

This One is many things, both tearing down and creating; this One brought forth all things by the word, and by the spirit of power holds all these things together.

This One brought heaven and earth from non-being, gave them substance, and established them ineffably; this One made the sun, moon, and stars by will alone — a wonder new and strange.

Last of all, he made me as a king, and gave all these things to me for my service, as slaves fulfilling my need in servile fashion.

But I stripped off the luminous and divine robe, and having fallen into darkness, I now lie in darkness, and do not know that I am deprived of light; and I say, "Behold, the sun illumines the day," and I see it; when night comes, it sets again, and I light for myself candles and a lamp, and I see.

And what more, of all these things, does any other man have than I?

For thus, assuredly, do men see in the world, and beyond this no man perceives anything more.

In saying these things, then, I lie, and I mock myself, and I deceive myself, O Savior, boasting against myself — unwilling to know myself, that I am blind; unwilling to labor; unwilling to regain my sight; unwilling, condemned as I am, to acknowledge my blindness.

But I say: Who has seen God, the light of the world?

And in saying this, Master, I am utterly without perception, not understanding that I think and speak wrongly.

For he who does not see your light, and yet claims to see altogether — or rather, even says that this is impossible, this beholding, Master, of the light of your divine glory — denies all the Scriptures of the prophets and apostles, and your own words, Jesus, and the economy of salvation.

For if you shone from on high, appeared in the darkness, and came, O compassionate one, into the world among men, () willing in your love for mankind to live among us, and truly and without falsehood declared yourself to be the light of the world — yet we do not see you: are we not utterly blind, and more wretched than the blind, my Christ?

The blind do not see the sensible sun, yet they live, Master, and move about somehow; for it does not grant life, but sight alone.

But you, being all good things, always give these to your servants who see your light, since you are life, and grant life together with all the other good things — I mean — which you yourself are.

He who truly possesses you possesses all things in you.

but by your grace I have known myself a stranger to visible things, having been illumined noetically by your light, and having known that you transfer us to an immaterial and invisible world, and settle the human race there, and apportion and assign to each a worthy dwelling, according as, Savior, he has kept your commandments.

For this reason, then, I beseech you to number me together with yourself, even though I have sinned much, beyond all men, and am worthy of chastisement and punishment; but receive me as a suppliant, as you received the tax-collector and the harlot, Master — even if I do not weep in like measure, even if I do not likewise wipe your feet with my hair, even if I do not groan and lament, Christ, in similar fashion; () yet you well up with mercy and flow with compassion, and pour forth goodness — by these, have mercy on me.

Yes, you whose hands were fixed, yes, you whose feet were fixed on the cross, and whose side was pierced by the lance, all-compassionate one, have mercy and deliver me from the eternal fire, graciously granting me to serve you from now on, and then to stand before you beyond reproach, and to be received within your bridal chamber, Savior, where I shall rejoice together with you, the good Master, with inexpressible joy, unto all the ages. Amen.

() I fled far away, lover of mankind, I lodged in the wilderness and hid myself from you, the sweet Master; having come under the night of life's care, I endured from it many bites and wounds; returning, I bear many injuries in my soul, and I cry out in my anguish and the pain of my heart: Have mercy, take pity on me, the transgressor!

and anoint my wounds, wipe away the sores, heal over and knit together my palsied limbs, and make all the scars vanish, Savior, and heal me utterly and wholly, as I was before, when there was in me no defilement, when there was in me no bruise, nor any inflamed wound, nor stain, O my God, but tranquility and joy, peace and gentleness, holy humility and long-suffering, the illumination of endurance and of the fairest works; endurance and strength unconquerable in everything.

() From this came much consolation of tears each day; from this came the exultation in my heart, which welled up like a spring, flowed unceasingly, and was a honey-dropping stream, a draught of gladness, continually turning in the mouth of my mind.

Whence came all health, whence purity, whence the cleansing of passions and vain thoughts, whence the lightning-formed freedom from passion was present with me and continually came to be with me — understand me spiritually, you who read through these things; do not be wretchedly defiled — producing in me an ineffable pleasure of union and an unbounded longing for marriage, a divine union, from partaking of which I too became free from passion, set ablaze by that pleasure, inflamed by longing for it, and I partook of the light — yes, and I became light, raised above every passion, outside all evil.

For passion does not touch the light of freedom from passion, any more than shadow touches the sun, or the darkness of night touches it.

Having become such, and being such, I grew puffed up, Master, having trusted in myself; I was dragged down by care for sensible things, and fell, wretch that I am, into anxiety over the affairs of life, and, having grown cold, I became black like iron, and lying idle for a long time, I contracted rust.

And for this reason I cry out to you again, asking to be cleansed, lover of mankind, and to be restored to my former beauty, and to enjoy your light, now and always and unto all the ages. Amen.

A far-shining contemplation concerning the noetic paradise; and concerning the tree of life within it.

() Blessed are you, Lord, blessed are you, the only one, blessed are you, compassionate one, blessed above all, who gave in my heart the light of your commandments, and planted in me the tree of your life, and showed me to be another paradise among visible things — intelligible amid sensible things, yet intelligible within conscious perception.

For you have united to the soul another, your divine Spirit, whom you have also made to dwell within my inward parts; this alone is truly the tree of life — this: in whatever soil it is planted, that is, in the soul of a man, and takes root in the heart, it at once shows that soul to be a most radiant paradise, adorned with all manner of fair plants and trees and various fruits, embellished with flowers and myriad-breathing lilies.

And these are: humility and joy and peace, gentleness and compassion, mourning, showers of tears, and a strange delight amid them, the radiance of your grace shining upon all who are in the paradise.

But whenever you are unwilling, and oppose these things, () I am without mind, I become without perception, like a stone.

The trumpet, without breath, will never sound; thus I too, apart from you, am as one lifeless.

Apart from the soul, the body cannot do anything at all; thus the soul, apart from your Spirit, cannot move, nor keep your commandments, Savior, nor can it see you, nor stand before you, nor hymn your glory with understanding, O my God.

For this reason, then, I cry out to you, and for this reason I exclaim: You who are above with the Father, and yet are present with us — not, as some suppose, by energy alone, nor, as many think, by will alone, nor by your power alone, but also by essence — if indeed one may dare to speak or conceive of essence concerning you, immortal one, sole one beyond essence!

Invisible, inaccessible, incomprehensible, untouchable, impalpable, wholly ungraspable — Savior, how shall we name you, and how shall we dare to say what and what manner of essence you are?

Truly you are none of all existing things, O my God, but all things are your works, brought forth out of non-being; you alone are uncreated, you alone are without beginning, Savior, Holy and venerable Trinity, God of all, and you have shown forth to us the light of your undefiled glory.

Grant me this same light now also without interruption, Savior; grant me always through it to behold you as in a mirror, O Word, and truly to apprehend your ineffable beauty, which, being altogether incomprehensible, utterly astounds my mind, sets my senses beside themselves, and kindles in my heart the fire of love for you.

Worshipping this beauty, I ask you, Son of God, grant () that both now and in the age to come I may possess it without interruption, and through it behold you, God, eternally.

Yes, compassionate shepherd, good and gentle, who wills that all who believe in you be saved, have mercy, hearken to this my supplication; be not angry, turn not your face away from me, but teach me to fulfill your will.

For I do not seek that my own will be done, but yours, that I may also serve you, O compassionate one.

With these may you number me, Master, and make me a partaker and joint-heir of your divine glory; for to you belongs glory, to the Father together with the co-eternal Son, and it befits the Divine Spirit, unto ages of ages. Amen.

That for every man who is insulted and suffers evil for the sake of a commandment of God, the dishonor endured for the sake of that very commandment of God is glory and honor; and a dialogue with his own soul, teaching the inexhaustible wealth of the Spirit.

() Give me, Christ, the conscious perception which you once granted; shelter me with it, Savior, hide me wholly within, and do not allow the perception of the world to draw near me, nor to enter within, nor at all to wound me — your humble servant, whom you alone have shown mercy.