And these are but the fringes of his ways;
how faint the echo we hear of him!
But who is able to grasp the meaning
of his thundering power?
— from Job ch. 26
Millenia after these words were put down in ink, still they ring true. Indeed we see but the fringes of the Creator’s ways, but the distant echoes of His glorious strength. And though we in a less ancient time might think of ourselves as having plumbed the depths of knowledge, ever are we confronted by our ignorance, for as one question seems to be answered two more spring up in its place, and as mystery compounds upon mystery we are forced to confront a greater Truth, that of the one who is, and was, and is to come. Such is, I think, the purpose of we here below, creatures of dirt and divine breath, to ever and anon be drawn to discover more of this endless one, humbled by His surpassing greatness, and increasingly drawn to pursue Him by the the revelation of His astounding and unquenchable love.
And though to some it might inspire fear, to discover that He whom they seek to know is unknowable, what greater encouragement could there be? That the One who created all should wish to be known by all. That He from whom no one can run would leave the ninety-nine to pursue the one. That He who had no beginning should stoop to know an end to life, that we who are mortal might know endless life. That He who is Love should call us beloved.
Oh my Love, what grace You have lavished upon me, that I might begin to know You who are unknowable, that in coming to the end of myself I glimpse the beginning of the Eternal.
— from my journal, 14th of July, 2022