You must be ready all the time.… Luke 12: 40 NLT [In the parable about the head of the house staying awake if he knew when the thief was coming], Jesus represents himself as an unexpected intruder. This parable refers not just to physical death, but to all his unexpected intrusions into our lives that take us by surprise. Sometimes he comes when we are at our lowest ebb.
All of a sudden, in the midst of anguish, anger, bitterness, lustful thoughts, and the feeling of abandonment, this incredibly loving presence appears as if to say, “Well, what is the matter with you? What are you belly-aching about? Because it got a little dark, you didn’t see me. Be on guard, therefore, because the son of man will come when you least expect him.”
When we least expect him is the darkest part of the night. It is not our pleas that bring the master back; he comes when he sees that we have completed our preparation. The pain of waiting is in proportion to the joy of resurrection. To those on the spiritual journey nothing happens that is not directed toward divine union if they only say “Yes.” (AW, 70– 71)
~Keating O.C.S.O., Thomas (2013-01-31). The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living (Kindle Locations 3223-3234). Continuum. Kindle Edition. Submitted by John Bonadeo.
But I am incapable of expressing and explaining these matters. If the preceding topics are equally inexplicable, yet these relate to the subject which concerns us. So to return–the contemplation of this light is a union, even though it does not endure with the imperfect. But is the union with this light other than a vision? And since it is brought about by the cessation of the intellectual activity, how could it be accomplished if not by the Spirit?
For it is in light that the light is seen, and that which sees operates in a similar light, since this faculty has no other way in which to work. Having separated itself from all other beings, it becomes itself all light and is assimilated to what it sees, or rather, it is united to it without mingling, itself light and seeing light through light.
If it sees itself, it sees light; if it beholds the object of its vision, that too is light; and if it looks at the means by which it sees, again it is light. For such is the character of the union, that all is one, so that he who sees can distinguish neither the means nor the object nor its nature, but simply has the awareness of being light and of seeing a light distinct from every creature.
~Gregory Palamas, The Triads in The Classics of Western Spirituality series, John Meyendorff, ed., pp. 65-66. Submitted by John Bonadeo.
