Read Ephesians 1:15-23.
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. (Ephesians 1:17-19)
What God’s Lover Desires
Three things that I would be: radiant as Cherubim
As tranquil as are Thrones, on fire as Seraphim.
(Angelus Silesius†)
“Immeasurable power for us who believe”? “Glorious inheritance”?
Sometimes I like to pretend that I’m a Christian. What if I really believed that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, all-generous spirit? What then would this “glorious inheritance” be?
Would he be content to keep me from some harm, but let some slip through? (Accidentally? Intentionally? Because he was unable to stop it?)
Would he count it enough to give me some food and drink, maybe a house and a family, some happiness, a peaceful, easy life, and to let my soul atrophy?
Would he be satisfied to let Jesus live a perfect life in my place without actually perfecting me, to pretend that I have been glorified, to give me a crown I don’t actually deserve?
Would it be acceptable for him to accomplish my salvation through force or coercion, blocking the free will with which he created me?
Would he consider it sufficient to give gifts of life, light, or love that are external to himself, maintaining a separation between us?
Would he stop at giving a little of himself, always holding something back so that he’s always a little richer?
Would he give any less than the radiance of his own wisdom, the fire of his own love, and the peace of union with his own life and power — the Trinity itself — in ever greater abundance, as we are able to receive?
Life in the Spirit is moving up and down Jacob’s ladder, up, closer to God, down, to bring others up, in the company of countless others, in a double helix of repeated ascent and descent, ever reaching new heights, ever seeing greater glory.
†The Cherubic Wanderer, Paulist Press, 1986, III.165
