In this first part on our series on Christian contemplation Mother Agnes goes through the Bible to explain the relationship God desires to have with man in silence - in contemplation; consider the following excerpt: "After Moses came Elijah, John the Baptist, and John the Beloved. You have a path, an interior path—coming from the beginning and passing down to us, where there is a reciprocal attraction between God and men. He attracts us because He loves us. And surely God would have desired that Adam would have eaten from the tree of life. But it seems difficult to just eat from the tree of life because we have so many things to do. We are seduced by so many things.. Clilck on "read more" to continue reading.
The tree of life
I want to make an introduction about the scriptural foundation of contemplation. Let’s start with the beginning. I will read what I would call the first commandment: God said to Adam, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat” (Genesis 2:16). The commandment is: “I encourage you to eat from all of the trees, and of one tree in particular, the tree of life in the center of the garden. This is the tree that gives life, in fact it gives “eternal life” (Gen 3:22). We know Adam is free to eat from all the trees. So why didn’t he run to the middle of the paradise and eat from the tree of life? Instead he ate from the tree that brings death. Recall how God warns Adam, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it because in the day thou eats from it thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:16). This is the second commandment, and it is a warning. Question: We know that Adam went and ate from the tree that brings death, but again consider: why didn’t he eat from the tree of life?
Let’s read what the Lord says after Adam’s fall, "Behold, Adam has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground (= Adamah in Hebrew) from which he was taken”. (Gen 3:22-23). God puts Adam outside of paradise and blocks the way to the tree of life. There is a contradiction here. The first commandment is ‘you will eat of all the trees’ but now, God is afraid that Adam will eat from the tree of life. Why?
And the Lord God sends Adam out from the garden of Eden to till the adamah (‘ground’) from where he was taken (Gen 3:23). This is not a punishment by God but an education—so that Adam might know himself. And to know himself he will have to work in the adamah. The adam-ah, or ground, is Adam’s own substance, it is his materia prima. So God drove Adam east of Eden, placing behind him two cherubim and a flaming sword which turns every way to guard the way back to the tree of life:
“Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground (Adamah) from which he was taken. He drove out Adam, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life”. (Gen 3:23-24)
We want to go to the middle of the paradise to eat from the tree of life and to live forever with Our Lord. But to arrive, we have to pass an obstacle: two cherubim with a flaming sword blocking the way! The way back to the tree of life is guarded. And it is not easy to reach it.
We know that the tree of life stands in the middle of the Garden, “And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:9)”.
Now when the woman in chapter 3 is attracted by the tree of knowledge, she actually denies the existence of the tree of life: “Now the serpent was craftier than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" (Gen 3:1-3)The woman ignores the tree of life, replacing it with the tree that she desires: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The middle of the garden is the treasure of our heart, as Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be” (Matt 6:21, Luke 12:34). What we see in the middle of the garden depends upon our desire and the perception of our heart; it is where the eyes of our hearts are directed. The woman’s treasure is the tree of knowledge, describing it “beautiful and good”:
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate”. (Gen 3:6)
The tree of knowledge of good and evil is the center of the garden for her. She does not see the tree of life, which is the true center, but she has replaced it with an illusion.
When the serpent comes to the woman, there are many verbs having to do with sight[1]. The serpent says, “You shall not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4-5). ‘And then the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food,’ (Gen 3:6). They eat the fruit ‘And their eyes were opened’ (Gen 3:7). Their eyes were opened to know that they were naked.
This is the mystery, and now the challenging question: What does it mean “to see that you are naked”? It is to see yourself in all your poverty, knowing that you are without God. Being made in the image and likeness of God we are creatures endowed, we are to be clothed with the glory of God. St. Paul says that “man is the image and glory of God” (1Cor 11:7). But without God we are naked. And Adam and his wife were driven out from paradise to learn who they were and from where they came.
Finding the way back to the tree of life is the quest for unity with God. To eat from the tree of life is to become one with God and to live forever. This is the permanent quest in Eastern Christianity, a quest that has been the great desire of all the saints of the East since the very beginning. This quest for unity was foreseen in the prophets and before them in Moses who said “Show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18):
Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." (Exo 33:18-23)
After Moses came Elijah, John the Baptist, and John the Beloved. You have a path, an interior path[2]—coming from the beginning and passing down to us, where there is a reciprocal attraction between God and men. He attracts us because He loves us. And surely God would have desired that Adam would have eaten from the tree of life. But it seems difficult to just eat from the tree of life because we have so many things to do. We are seduced by so many things.
When Martha and Mary were hosting Jesus, Martha was doing good things, she had to do them:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." (Luk 10:38-42)
See the desire of Jesus’ heart: He wants the whole world to stop because we are with Him. Jesus is the unique necessary. Every day there is an encounter that we could be missing, a meeting with our Lord. And we can ask ourselves a question about the tree of life, ‘Do I really want to eat from it and live eternally?’ (Gen 3:22).
To live eternally means to die to everything else: before—before Adam was confronted with the mystery of his death—it would perhaps not have been like this. But today, to eat from the tree of life, means to die to everything else. That’s why the Lord says: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Mat 16:24) This treasure is so great, so precious, so immense that it cannot stand any rivalry. Either you take it all or you don’t.
Cherubim
To go back to paradise and to find the way of the tree of life is a spiritual battle. It means that we have to enter into ourselves and that we have to admit inside ourselves the discipline of discernment. Since the day there was evil and good in our lives we are challenged to choose, challenged to be responsible.
Sometimes I think about the cherubim spoken of in Gen 3:24 and ask myself, “Who are they”? “He drove out Adam, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life”.
“Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out Adam, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Gen 3:23-24)
We know from Ezekiel that the serpent was appointed to be a “guardian cherubim in Eden”
“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you”. (Eze 28:15-17)
There is a judgment and the epistle of Saint Jude tells us something about it, “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you." (Jud 1:9)’
Here we see Michael confronting the devil, the accuser, about the body of Moses. These two cherubim are disputing the body of Moses. Now at the cross the good thief receives a blessed promise from our Lord, ‘Today you shall be with me in paradise’ (Luke 23:43). This means that with Jesus Christ we can bypass the judgment and enter straight ahead to the paradise. [That is, we can bypass the flaming sword and eat from the tree of life].
Intimacy with God: the patriarchs and the prophets
Enoch
When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. (Gen 5:21-24).
The Lord was so thirsty for at least one of the human race to walk with Him and to strive for Him that the first one who did was completely wrapped up by Him. “O man, what does the Lord require: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Enoch is a sign for every soul who leaves everything to find the pearl, the precious stone: the Kingdom. And that Kingdom is not like a republic, it’s each one of us with his LORD. The Bible says ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’, but our temptation is to establish the structure on the outside. The structure is only necessary to guard the interior – but the interior is the precious stone.
Samuel
“Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, "Here I am!" and ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. And the LORD called again, "Samuel!" and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the young man. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place”. (1Sa 3:1-9)
The Lord is calling Samuel these three times, and Samuel thinks that it is his master Eli. Finally, at the third call Eli tells him to say to the Lord: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1Sa 3:9). We must listen – our way of relating to the Lord in our present condition passes through hearing “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). I remind you that in the days of Enos, the third patriarch after Adam, people began to invoke the name of the Lord:
“And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD”. (Gen 4:25-26)
Why, these people are freshly coming out from paradise, how is it possible that the name of the Lord is invoked in the third generation? For two generations, I think, they were still with Him faithfully, and in the third they began invoking his name. To know the name is to have the key to enter into the mystery of the person. It’s [no longer] face to face [as in the Garden], but the name is a key and it comes through the ears.
Moses
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings (Exo 3:1-7).
“I have surely seen the misery of my people” (Ex 3:7): in the burning bush the Lord is manifesting His care for His people. And he presents himself as the God of “his fathers,” and “this is my name forever… I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”:
“Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations”. (Exo 3:13-15)
He cares for his people and he sends Moses to save his people. When the Lord comes in to our lives He will always send us. And contemplation without a mission is like a tree without fruit. The Lord says, “I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and broad land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:8). There is always a path to salvation, our own salvation, but also the salvation of the people of God – that’s what we call soteriology, the science of salvation. There is no contemplation that is not related to the mystery of salvation.
And from the burning bush the Lord reveals his name, “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex 3:14). God is the only being whose existence is not dependent upon another. And this name is the very name of God. When we are in relationship with the Lord we know who He is, we know His name. His name is important in our prayer. If you pray or meditate without naming the entity you [risk opening yourself to an evil presence]. The path is very narrow. That’s why, when we enter in contemplation, we do it in the name of Jesus Christ, because the name of Jesus is the name of God who is faithful. Always begin by saying, “in the name of the Lord”.
When Moses asks the Lord to see his glory the Lord answers him with a promise, “"I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." (Exo 33:18-23)”.
When you go and eat from the tree of life you have to die. To proclaim the name of the Lord is an initiation to know the inside of the Lord more and more - it is an epiphany, a manifestation. And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock”. (Ex 33:21) From this rock God reveals himself to Moses. St Paul and the Fathers say that the rock upon which Moses is standing to behold God is Christ (1Cor 10:4). We cannot know anything about God without the Rock, without Christ (Jn 14:6). Contemplation without revelation—without God’s Word, without God’s Spirit speaking to us through scripture—is making things up; it doesn’t lead anywhere. It is like a serpent eating its tail. I am giving you elements, because it is a huge subject and we have to structure it. Before the incarnation [of Christ] it was not possible to see the face of God. After the incarnation Jesus says, “If you see me you see the Father” (John 14:9) because Jesus is God; he is the image of the living God (2Cor 4:4, Col 1:15) and “the exact imprint of His essence” (Heb 1:3). This is important for our contemplation.
Elijah
Finally, let us meditate on Elijah in the cave: “There he [Elijah] came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away." And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave”. (1Ki 19:9-12)
Elijah was listening, he could hear this little voice, and then “he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave. Like Elijah, the desert fathers always tried to “stand at the entrance of the cave”, which is the entrance to the heart. From there they could wait on the Lord, being attentive to the word of truth and falsehood, judging things rightly, they could pray always, and be awake to whatever passes through. Elijah is listening to the voice of God in the cave, and he lets everything else pass by so that he can hear His voice. And after Elijah’s night in the cave God gives him a commission that will change the course of history.
We have to contemplate and meditate on these passages. They are written for our knowledge to have us experience the reality of our God by faith. This experience is meant to lead us to arrive to the Lord and to get in relationship with him in His Way, not in our way. Notice how often we are diverted by a strong wind, a fire, or an earthquake and that we utterly despise the little things; and thus we miss the whisper of the Lord and his presence. The Lord is Spirit (Jn 4:24). We are spirit also but we are accustomed to material things – that’s why we despise the subtle, simple things. We are looking for the signs and the miracles, which can help, but they are not the center, they are not the necessary.
[1] the Hebrew verb yada` /“to know” which properly means ‘to ascertain by seeing.’
[2] David asks God to make known to him the “path of life” (Ps 16:11) that leads to “eternal happiness”, or “the everlasting path,” (Ps 139:24). And in (Jer 6:16) God says, “Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” Jesus picks up on this theme in Matt 7:13-4 “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”The tree of life
I want to make an introduction about the scriptural foundation of contemplation. Let’s start with the beginning. I will read what I would call the first commandment: God said to Adam, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat” (Genesis 2:16). The commandment is: “I encourage you to eat from all of the trees, and of one tree in particular, the tree of life in the center of the garden. This is the tree that gives life, in fact it gives “eternal life” (Gen 3:22). We know Adam is free to eat from all the trees. So why didn’t he run to the middle of the paradise and eat from the tree of life? Instead he ate from the tree that brings death. Recall how God warns Adam, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it because in the day thou eats from it thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:16). This is the second commandment, and it is a warning. Question: We know that Adam went and ate from the tree that brings death, but again consider: why didn’t he eat from the tree of life?
Let’s read what the Lord says after Adam’s fall, "Behold, Adam has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground (= Adamah in Hebrew) from which he was taken”. (Gen 3:22-23). God puts Adam outside of paradise and blocks the way to the tree of life. There is a contradiction here. The first commandment is ‘you will eat of all the trees’ but now, God is afraid that Adam will eat from the tree of life. Why?
And the Lord God sends Adam out from the garden of Eden to till the adamah (‘ground’) from where he was taken (Gen 3:23). This is not a punishment by God but an education—so that Adam might know himself. And to know himself he will have to work in the adamah. The adam-ah, or ground, is Adam’s own substance, it is his materia prima. So God drove Adam east of Eden, placing behind him two cherubim and a flaming sword which turns every way to guard the way back to the tree of life:
“Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground (Adamah) from which he was taken. He drove out Adam, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life”. (Gen 3:23-24)
We want to go to the middle of the paradise to eat from the tree of life and to live forever with Our Lord. But to arrive, we have to pass an obstacle: two cherubim with a flaming sword blocking the way! The way back to the tree of life is guarded. And it is not easy to reach it.
We know that the tree of life stands in the middle of the Garden, “And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:9)”.
Now when the woman in chapter 3 is attracted by the tree of knowledge, she actually denies the existence of the tree of life: “Now the serpent was craftier than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" (Gen 3:1-3)The woman ignores the tree of life, replacing it with the tree that she desires: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The middle of the garden is the treasure of our heart, as Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be” (Matt 6:21, Luke 12:34). What we see in the middle of the garden depends upon our desire and the perception of our heart; it is where the eyes of our hearts are directed. The woman’s treasure is the tree of knowledge, describing it “beautiful and good”:
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate”. (Gen 3:6)
The tree of knowledge of good and evil is the center of the garden for her. She does not see the tree of life, which is the true center, but she has replaced it with an illusion.
When the serpent comes to the woman, there are many verbs having to do with sight[1]. The serpent says, “You shall not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4-5). ‘And then the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food,’ (Gen 3:6). They eat the fruit ‘And their eyes were opened’ (Gen 3:7). Their eyes were opened to know that they were naked.
This is the mystery, and now the challenging question: What does it mean “to see that you are naked”? It is to see yourself in all your poverty, knowing that you are without God. Being made in the image and likeness of God we are creatures endowed, we are to be clothed with the glory of God. St. Paul says that “man is the image and glory of God” (1Cor 11:7). But without God we are naked. And Adam and his wife were driven out from paradise to learn who they were and from where they came.
Finding the way back to the tree of life is the quest for unity with God. To eat from the tree of life is to become one with God and to live forever. This is the permanent quest in Eastern Christianity, a quest that has been the great desire of all the saints of the East since the very beginning. This quest for unity was foreseen in the prophets and before them in Moses who said “Show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18):
Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." (Exo 33:18-23)
After Moses came Elijah, John the Baptist, and John the Beloved. You have a path, an interior path[2]—coming from the beginning and passing down to us, where there is a reciprocal attraction between God and men. He attracts us because He loves us. And surely God would have desired that Adam would have eaten from the tree of life. But it seems difficult to just eat from the tree of life because we have so many things to do. We are seduced by so many things.
When Martha and Mary were hosting Jesus, Martha was doing good things, she had to do them:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." (Luk 10:38-42)
See the desire of Jesus’ heart: He wants the whole world to stop because we are with Him. Jesus is the unique necessary. Every day there is an encounter that we could be missing, a meeting with our Lord. And we can ask ourselves a question about the tree of life, ‘Do I really want to eat from it and live eternally?’ (Gen 3:22).
To live eternally means to die to everything else: before—before Adam was confronted with the mystery of his death—it would perhaps not have been like this. But today, to eat from the tree of life, means to die to everything else. That’s why the Lord says: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Mat 16:24) This treasure is so great, so precious, so immense that it cannot stand any rivalry. Either you take it all or you don’t.
Cherubim
To go back to paradise and to find the way of the tree of life is a spiritual battle. It means that we have to enter into ourselves and that we have to admit inside ourselves the discipline of discernment. Since the day there was evil and good in our lives we are challenged to choose, challenged to be responsible.
Sometimes I think about the cherubim spoken of in Gen 3:24 and ask myself, “Who are they”? “He drove out Adam, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life”.
“Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out Adam, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Gen 3:23-24)
We know from Ezekiel that the serpent was appointed to be a “guardian cherubim in Eden”
“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you”. (Eze 28:15-17)
There is a judgment and the epistle of Saint Jude tells us something about it, “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you." (Jud 1:9)’
Here we see Michael confronting the devil, the accuser, about the body of Moses. These two cherubim are disputing the body of Moses. Now at the cross the good thief receives a blessed promise from our Lord, ‘Today you shall be with me in paradise’ (Luke 23:43). This means that with Jesus Christ we can bypass the judgment and enter straight ahead to the paradise. [That is, we can bypass the flaming sword and eat from the tree of life].
Intimacy with God: the patriarchs and the prophets
Enoch
When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. (Gen 5:21-24).
The Lord was so thirsty for at least one of the human race to walk with Him and to strive for Him that the first one who did was completely wrapped up by Him. “O man, what does the Lord require: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Enoch is a sign for every soul who leaves everything to find the pearl, the precious stone: the Kingdom. And that Kingdom is not like a republic, it’s each one of us with his LORD. The Bible says ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’, but our temptation is to establish the structure on the outside. The structure is only necessary to guard the interior – but the interior is the precious stone.
Samuel
“Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, "Here I am!" and ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. And the LORD called again, "Samuel!" and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the young man. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place”. (1Sa 3:1-9)
The Lord is calling Samuel these three times, and Samuel thinks that it is his master Eli. Finally, at the third call Eli tells him to say to the Lord: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1Sa 3:9). We must listen – our way of relating to the Lord in our present condition passes through hearing “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). I remind you that in the days of Enos, the third patriarch after Adam, people began to invoke the name of the Lord:
“And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD”. (Gen 4:25-26)
Why, these people are freshly coming out from paradise, how is it possible that the name of the Lord is invoked in the third generation? For two generations, I think, they were still with Him faithfully, and in the third they began invoking his name. To know the name is to have the key to enter into the mystery of the person. It’s [no longer] face to face [as in the Garden], but the name is a key and it comes through the ears.
Moses
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings (Exo 3:1-7).
“I have surely seen the misery of my people” (Ex 3:7): in the burning bush the Lord is manifesting His care for His people. And he presents himself as the God of “his fathers,” and “this is my name forever… I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”:
“Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations”. (Exo 3:13-15)
He cares for his people and he sends Moses to save his people. When the Lord comes in to our lives He will always send us. And contemplation without a mission is like a tree without fruit. The Lord says, “I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and broad land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:8). There is always a path to salvation, our own salvation, but also the salvation of the people of God – that’s what we call soteriology, the science of salvation. There is no contemplation that is not related to the mystery of salvation.
And from the burning bush the Lord reveals his name, “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex 3:14). God is the only being whose existence is not dependent upon another. And this name is the very name of God. When we are in relationship with the Lord we know who He is, we know His name. His name is important in our prayer. If you pray or meditate without naming the entity you [risk opening yourself to an evil presence]. The path is very narrow. That’s why, when we enter in contemplation, we do it in the name of Jesus Christ, because the name of Jesus is the name of God who is faithful. Always begin by saying, “in the name of the Lord”.
When Moses asks the Lord to see his glory the Lord answers him with a promise, “"I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." (Exo 33:18-23)”.
When you go and eat from the tree of life you have to die. To proclaim the name of the Lord is an initiation to know the inside of the Lord more and more - it is an epiphany, a manifestation. And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock”. (Ex 33:21) From this rock God reveals himself to Moses. St Paul and the Fathers say that the rock upon which Moses is standing to behold God is Christ (1Cor 10:4). We cannot know anything about God without the Rock, without Christ (Jn 14:6). Contemplation without revelation—without God’s Word, without God’s Spirit speaking to us through scripture—is making things up; it doesn’t lead anywhere. It is like a serpent eating its tail. I am giving you elements, because it is a huge subject and we have to structure it. Before the incarnation [of Christ] it was not possible to see the face of God. After the incarnation Jesus says, “If you see me you see the Father” (John 14:9) because Jesus is God; he is the image of the living God (2Cor 4:4, Col 1:15) and “the exact imprint of His essence” (Heb 1:3). This is important for our contemplation.
Elijah
Finally, let us meditate on Elijah in the cave: “There he [Elijah] came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away." And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave”. (1Ki 19:9-12)
Elijah was listening, he could hear this little voice, and then “he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave. Like Elijah, the desert fathers always tried to “stand at the entrance of the cave”, which is the entrance to the heart. From there they could wait on the Lord, being attentive to the word of truth and falsehood, judging things rightly, they could pray always, and be awake to whatever passes through. Elijah is listening to the voice of God in the cave, and he lets everything else pass by so that he can hear His voice. And after Elijah’s night in the cave God gives him a commission that will change the course of history.
We have to contemplate and meditate on these passages. They are written for our knowledge to have us experience the reality of our God by faith. This experience is meant to lead us to arrive to the Lord and to get in relationship with him in His Way, not in our way. Notice how often we are diverted by a strong wind, a fire, or an earthquake and that we utterly despise the little things; and thus we miss the whisper of the Lord and his presence. The Lord is Spirit (Jn 4:24). We are spirit also but we are accustomed to material things – that’s why we despise the subtle, simple things. We are looking for the signs and the miracles, which can help, but they are not the center, they are not the necessary.
[1] the Hebrew verb yada` /“to know” which properly means ‘to ascertain by seeing.’
[2] David asks God to make known to him the “path of life” (Ps 16:11) that leads to “eternal happiness”, or “the everlasting path,” (Ps 139:24). And in (Jer 6:16) God says, “Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” Jesus picks up on this theme in Matt 7:13-4 “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”
