Striving to Know God

Bernard McGinn in The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart, says:

 “Striving to know God is a constant pursuit of what is by definition unattainable. ‘This not knowing draws [the soul] into amazement and keeps her on the hunt, for she clearly recognizes that he is, but she does not know what or how he is. . . . Therefore, the unknown-knowing keeps the soul constant and still on the hunt.’ ”

I would have thought that one would become discouraged by a constant pursuit of an unattainable God; a pursuit of God to know him who is unknowable, I would think, would be very discouraging and would cause one to give up on the hunt, not continue to search as Meister Eckhart suggests.

God gives us, I believe, little enticements to continue the hunt. As in the children’s game of hide and seek, the person who is hiding may give little clues as to his whereabouts, I believe God gives us little hints of where the Sacred One may be found.

It is as important for the one who is hiding to be found, as it is for the one who is seeking to find the hidden one. God hides himself to have us seek for the divine in greater depth. God gives us clues of where to find him by little encouragements such as showing God’s love for us, or God’s light shining in our dark moments, or God’s answer to prayer.

“Seek and you will find,” Christ says, “Knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9

Keep on searching then for God surely wants to be found so that we can discover God’s beauty and holiness within and around us.

© Judith Lawrence

This was first published in meditations on www.judithlawrence.ca