Chapter 1 · On the degrees of ascension to God, and the beholding of Him through His footsteps in the universe — The Journey of the Mind into God
On the degrees of ascension to God, and the beholding of Him through His footsteps in the universe
The speculation of the poor man in the wilderness
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the highways to Zion, Passing through the valley of weeping, they make it a place of springs.” Since bliss is naught but the enjoyment of the Supreme Good, and the Supreme Good is above us, no one can become blest unless he ascend above himself, with ascension not of the body, but of the heart. But we cannot be lifted above ourselves, save through a higher power lifting us up. For, however much our inward steps may be ordered, nothing is done unless divine aid accompany. But divine aid accompanies those who ask it from the heart, humbly and devoutly, and this is to sigh for it in this vale of tears—which is done by fervent prayer. Prayer, therefore, is the mother and source of uprising to God. Wherefore Dionysius, in his “Mystic Theology,” wishing to instruct us in the way to attain mental transports, sets down prayer as the first step. Let us each, therefore, pray and say to our Lord, God: “Lead me, O Lord, in thy way, and I will walk in thy truth. Let my heart rejoice to fear thee.” In praying this prayer, we are illuminated to know the steps of ascension to God. For, inasmuch as, in our present condition, this Universe of things is a stair whereby we may ascend to God; and, since among these things some are his footprints, some his image, some corporeal, some spiritual, some temporal, some eternal; and, hence, some outside of us, and some inside; in order that we may attain to the consideration of the First Principle, which is altogether spiritual, eternal, and above us, we must pass through the footsteps, which are corporeal, temporal, and outside of us; and this is to be led in the way of God. We must also enter into our own minds, which are the image of God, eternal, spiritual, and within us; and this is to enter into the truth of God. We must also rise aloft to the eternal, which is purely spiritual and above us, by looking at the First Principle; and this is to rejoice in the knowledge of God and in reverence for his majesty. This, then, is the three-days’ journey in the wilderness. This is the threefold illumination of one day; the first is as the evening, the second as the morning, and the third as noon-day. This has regard to the threefold existence of things; that is, in matter, in intelligence, and in the divine art, as it is written: “Let there be made; He made, and it was made.” This also has regard to the triple substance in Christ, who is our stair—that is, the corporeal, the spiritual, and the divine.
According to this triple progress, our minds have three principal outlooks. The first is toward corporeal things without, and with reference to this it is called animality or sensuality. The second is directed inward upon and into itself, and with reference to this it is called spirit. The third is directed upward above itself, and in reference to this it is called mind. With all these it must dispose itself to ascend to God, that it may love him with the whole mind, the whole heart, and the whole soul, in which consist at once perfect observance of the law and Christian Wisdom.
But, since every one of the aforesaid modes is doubled, according as we come to consider God as Alpha and as Omega, or according as we come to see God in each of the above modes through a glass and in a glass, or because each of these considerations has to be commingled with the other that is joined to it, and also to be considered in its purity, so it is necessary that these three grades should rise to the number of six; whence, as God finished the universal world in six days and rested on the seventh, so the smaller world is led in the most orderly way, by six successive grades of illumination, to the rest of contemplation. Typical of this are the six steps leading to the throne of Solomon: the six-winged Seraphim which Isaiah saw; the six days after which God called Moses from the midst of the darkness; the six days after which—as we read in Matthew, Christ led his disciples up into a mountain, and was transfigured before them.
Corresponding, therefore, to the six grades of ascension into God are the six grades of the powers of the soul, whereby we ascend from the lowest to the highest; from the external to the most internal; from the temporal to the eternal; namely: sense, imagination, reason, intellect, intelligence, and the apex of the mind, or the spark of synteresis. These grades are implanted in us by nature, deformed by sin, reformed by grace, to be purged by justice, exercised by knowledge, perfected by wisdom. For, according to the first institution of nature, man was created fit for the quiet of contemplation; and, for this reason, God placed him in a Paradise of delights; but, turning away from the true light to mutable good, he himself was made crooked through his own fault, and his whole race through original sin, which infected human nature in two ways—the mind with ignorance, and the flesh with concupiscence; so that man, blinded and bowed down, sits in darkness and sees not the light of heaven, unless he be aided by grace with justice against concupiscence, and by knowledge with wisdom against ignorance. All this is done through Jesus Christ, “who for us was made wisdom from God and justice and sanctification and redemption.” He, being the Power and Wisdom of God, the incarnate Word full of grace and truth, made grace and truth. To wit, he infused the grace of charity, which, when it comes “of a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned,” rectifies the whole soul, in its threefold outlook above mentioned. He also taught the knowledge of truth, according to the three modes of Theology—that is, symbolic, proper, and mystical—so that, through symbolic theology, we might rightly use sensible things; through theology proper, intelligible things; and, through mystical theology, might be caught up into supermental ecstasies.
Whoever, therefore, would ascend to God must avoid deforming sin and exercise the above-named natural powers, with a view to reforming grace, and this by prayer; with a view to purifying justice, and this in conversation; with a view to illuminating science, and this in meditation; with a view to perfecting wisdom, and this in contemplation. Therefore, even as no one comes to wisdom save through grace, justice, and knowledge, so no one comes to contemplation save by clear meditation, holy conversation, and devout prayer. As grace, therefore, is the foundation of rightness of will, and of the clear illumination of reason, so we must first pray, then live holily, and, thirdly, attend to the manifestations of truth; and, so attending, we must gradually rise, till we reach the high mountain, where the God of Gods is seen in Zion.
And, since we must ascend Jacob’s ladder, before we descend, let us place the first step in the ascent at the bottom, holding up this whole sensible world before us, as a mirror, through which we may rise to God, the supreme artificer, that we may be true Hebrews, passing forth from Egypt to the land promised to our fathers; also that we may be Christians, passing forth with Christ from this world to the Father; and that we may be lovers of Wisdom, that calleth and saith: “Come unto me all ye that desire me, and be ye filled with mine offspring.” “For, from the greatness and beauty of created things, their Creator may be seen and known.” The supreme power, wisdom, and benevolence of the Creator is reflected in all created things, as is reported in threefold fashion by the sense of the flesh to the interior sense. For the sense of the flesh lends itself to the intellect when it investigates with reason, believes with faith, or contemplates with intellect. In contemplating, it considers the actual existence of things; in believing, their habitual course; in reasoning, their potential pre-excellence.
The first point of view, which is that of contemplation, considering things in themselves, sees in them weight, number, and measure; weight, which marks the point to which they tend; number, whereby they are distinguished; measure, whereby they are limited; and hereby it sees in them mode, species, order, as well as substance, virtue, and action, from which it may arise, as from footsteps, to understand the power, wisdom, and boundless goodness of the Creator.
The second point of view, which is that of faith, considering this world, attends to its origin, course, and termination. For by faith we believe that the ages were arranged by the Word of Life; by faith we believe that the epochs of the three laws—the law of nature, the law of scripture, and the law of grace—succeed each other and have elapsed in the most perfect order; by faith we believe that the world will be terminated by a final judgment. In the first we observe the power; in the second, the providence; in the third, the justice of the Supreme Principle.
The third point of view—that of reason—investigating, sees that some things are only, and some are and live only, whereas some are, live, and discern; and that the first are inferior; the second, middle; the third, superior. It sees, likewise, that some are only corporeal, and some partly corporeal, partly spiritual; whence it concludes that there are some purely spiritual, as better and worthier than either. It sees, moreover, that some are mutable and corruptible, as terrestrial things; others mutable and incorruptible, as celestial things; whence it concludes that some are immutable and incorruptible, as supercelestial things. From these visible things, therefore, it rises to consider God’s power, wisdom, and goodness, as being, living, and intelligent, as purely spiritual, incorruptible, and intransmutable. This consideration, again, is extended according to the sevenfold condition of created things, which is the sevenfold witness of the divine power, wisdom, and goodness, if we consider the origin, magnitude, multitude, beauty, plenitude, action, and order of all things. For the origin of things, in respect to creation, distinction, and adornment, as far as the works of the six days are concerned, proclaims the divine power, producing all things from nothing; the divine wisdom, as clearly distinguishing all things; the divine goodness, as generously adorning all things. The magnitude of things—in respect to the bulk of length, breadth, and depth; in respect to the excellence of the power extending itself in length, breadth, and depth, as is manifest in the diffusion of light; in respect to the efficacy of action, intimate, continuous, and diffused, as is manifested in the action of fire—clearly indicates the immensity of the power, wisdom, and goodness of the threefold God, who exists uncircumscribed in all created things, through power, presence, and essence. The multitude of things—in respect to their diversity, general, special, and individual, in substance, in form or figure, and in efficacy, beyond all human estimation—manifestly involves and displays the immensity of the three above-named conditions in God.
The beauty of things—in respect to the variety of lights, figures, and colors, in bodies simple, mixed, and organized, as in the heavenly bodies and minerals, as in stones and metals, plants and animals—plainly proclaims the above three things. The plenitude of things—in that matter is full of forms, in respect to seminal reasons, form is full of virtue as to active power, and virtue is full of effects as to efficiency—manifestly declares this same thing. Action, manifold, according as it is natural, artificial, or moral, by its most manifold variety, shows the immensity of that power, art, and goodness which indeed is to all things the cause of being, the ground of understanding, and the order of living. Order, in respect to the ratio of duration, situation, and influence—that is, to sooner or later, higher or lower, nobler or baser—in the book of creation, clearly manifests the primacy, sublimity, and divinity of the First Principle in regard to infinity of power, while the order of the divine laws, precepts, and judgments, in the book of Scripture, manifests the immensity of his wisdom; and the order of the divine sacraments, benefits, and retributions in the body of the Church manifests the immensity of his goodness, so that order itself most evidently leads us by the hand to that which is first and highest, mightiest, and wisest and best. He, therefore, who is not enlightened by all these splendors of created things is blind; he who is not waked by such callings is deaf; he who from all these effects does not praise God is dumb; he who after such intimation does not observe the First Principle is foolish.
Open, therefore, thine eyes; draw near thy spiritual ears; unseal thy lips, and apply thy heart, that in all created things thou mayest see, hear, praise, love, magnify, and honor God, lest, peradventure, the universal frame of things should rise up against thee. Yea, for this the universe will fight against them that are without senses, whereas to them that have senses it will be a matter of glory, who can say with the Prophet: “Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph in the works of thy hands.” “O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all. The earth is full of thy riches.”