Monday, May 19, 1997
Feast of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988

I suddenly saw that all the time it was not I who had been seeking God, but God who had been seeking me. I had made myself the centre of my own existence and had my back turned to God. All the beauty and truth which I had discovered had come to me as a reflection of his beauty, but I had kept my eyes fixed on the reflection and was always looking at myself. But God had brought me to the point at which I was compelled to turn away from the reflection, both of myself and of the world which could only mirror my own image. During that night the mirror had been broken, and I had felt abandoned because I could no longer gaze upon the image of my own reason and the finite world which it knew. God had brought me to my knees and made me acknowledge my own nothingness, and out of that knowledge I had been reborn. I was no longer the centre of my life and therefore I could see God in everything.

... Bede Griffiths (1906-1993), The Golden String [1954], Bede Griffiths, London: Fount Paperbacks, 1979, p. 97 (see the book; see also Job 42:5-6; Ps. 39:4-7; 51:17; Matt. 7:7; Acts 20:24; 1 Cor. 13:1-3; 2 Cor. 12:11; Gal. 6:3; Jas. 4:8-10; more at Beauty, Discovery, Existence, God, Knowing God, Life, Reason, Truth)

 
Compilation Copyright, 1996-2024, by Robert McAnally Adams,
        Curator, Christian Quotation of the Day,
        with Robert Douglas, principal contributor
Logo image Copyright 1996 by Shay Barsabe, of “Simple GIFs”, by kind permission.
Send comments to curator@cqod.com.

Last updated: 04/14/16

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