“Entering the darkness that surpasses understanding, we shall find ourselves brought, not just to brevity of speech, but to perfect silence and unknowing.”
~Dionysius the Areopagite
Reflection:
There comes a point in the spiritual life when language begins to fail us. We reach the edge of what we can explain, defend, or even comprehend, and we find ourselves standing in a quiet darkness. Dionysius the Areopagite reminds us that this darkness is not emptiness, but a holy unknowing where the soul is drawn beyond speech into silence, beyond striving into stillness.
This can feel unsettling. We are accustomed to clarity, to answers, to the comfort of certainty. But the deeper we are led into God, the more we realize that understanding is not the same as communion. As The Cloud of Unknowing teaches, “[God] can be loved, but not thought. By love, God can be embraced and held, but not by thinking” (ch 6). In order to embrace God, we must also embrace uncertaity, and in this sacred uncertainty, knowledge gives way to trust, and striving gives way to surrender.
There is a kind of grace hidden in this uncertainty. The mind stops grasping, and we finally cease fighting. We are left with nothing to hold onto but God Himself. And perhaps that is the point, that we must even let go of our concept of God in order to receive God. That even our understanding of who and what God is, is a false idol which must be smashed. By letting go of the need to know, explain, or control, we slowly consent to God as God is, and He begins to do His work in us through silence and unknowing.
Question for Meditation:
Where might God be inviting me to release my need to understand and simply rest in His presence?
Related Scripture:
“For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)
For Further Reading: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Beyond Oneness: When Divine Grace Draws Us Into Stillness
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