The Living God
“O Lord of Love,” the soul replies, “if I call you Love, if I discover in you Love without limits, I do not seek in any way to deify a ‘feeling.’ Love without limits is not a ‘feeling of love’; is it not some subjective, human sentiment.
“My Love, you are by no means some metaphysical attribute or psychological experience. Nor are you some moral imperative. You are not, either, an impersonal entity, a passing shadow or a fading image.
“My Love without limits, you are the supremely Living One, the Living God. I come to you as to the First Lover: a passionate Lover who knows no passion, but who bears in Himself, and to the highest degree, an active inner movement of passion. I come to you as to that Lover from whom every form of love flows forth.
“My Beloved is drawing near to me. And it is because He comes to me that I can draw near to Him. I hear the sound of His footsteps. I hear His voice. He is coming, just as He forever comes.”
The World in its depths
“My child,” God whispers, “this world is a world of signs. You must learn to decipher its secret writing.
“It is good that you discover and admire at every step of the way the beauty of the world. It is good that you remain aware of the creative act that brought it into being. Yet beyond a certain point, that is no longer enough. You must set this created splendor in its total context, which is marked by both pain and victory.
“If you have perceived that the mystery of the universe is Love without limits, yet a Love that sacrifices itself for you, you can no longer see things as they appeared before. ‘Natural’ beauty simply disappears with the vision of the Sacrifice of Love.
“You see the sun. Think then of Him who is the Light of the World, veiled in shadows. You see the trees, and their branches adorned anew with every new spring. Think of Him who, nailed to the wood, draws all things to Himself.
“You see the rocks and boulders. Think of the stone which, in a special garden, covered the entrance to a tomb. That stone was rolled away; and ever since, the door of that tomb has never been closed.
“You admire the crimson streaks that embellish the whiteness of certain petals. Think of the precious Blood that poured forth from Him who is absolute Purity.
“You see the sheep and the lambs. These innocent ones are led to the slaughter, yet they never open their mouths. Think of Him who, in a unique way, desired to be the sacrificed Lamb of God!”
~Adapted from the Very Rev. John Breck, Orthodox Church in America (oca.org), October 2006, Article #4, Love Without Limits, by Archimandrite Lev Gillet, “A Monk of the Eastern Church”
