Seeking And Finding

Non hic stamus tota die otiosi. Scimus enim et quid quaerimus, et quis est qui nos conduxit. Deum quaerimus, Deum exspectamus. Non est parva res, nec parvi animi, cum illa quae singulari pietatis nomine gloriatur, saepius sese quaeratur esse frustratam, dicens: Quaesivi illum, et non inveni. Est enim sicut amabilis, ita etiam admirabilis; quia cum non quaeritur invenitur, et non invenitur cum quaeritur. Si nati essemus ex quo factus est homo super terram, et usque ad centum millia annorum vita nostra extenderetur, non esset tamen condigna quaesitio hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam quae revelabitur in nobis. Ecce nunc tempus quaerendi, ecce nunc dies inveniendi prae manibus sunt. Quaerite, inquit, Dominum dum inveniri potest; invocate eum dum prope est. Erit tempus quando non erit locus, cum ille fons miserationis interminabili siccabitur siccitate. Quaeretis me, inquit, et non invenietis. Bonus es, Domine, animae quaerenti te. Si quaerenti, quanto magis invenienti? Si tam dulcis est memoria, qualis erit praesentia? Si mel et lac dulce est sub lingua, quid erit super linguam? Hinc probate vos, fratres, si in via estis, si non exorbitatis. Laetetur, inquit, cor quaerentium Dominum. Si gaudetis ad labores, si inoffenso, si indefesso pede curritis viam mandatorum Dei, si quotidie utriusque hominis status recentior est ad proficiendum, quam ad incipiendum; profecto quaeritis faciem ejus semper. Quo ergo abiit dilectus ex dilecto, et quaeremus eum? Ubi est? Quid dixi miser! Sed ubi non est? Altior est coelo, inferno profundior, latior terra, mari diffusior. Nusquam est, et ubique est; quia nec abest ulli, nec ullo capitur loco. Ipse hic est, sed ego hic non sum. Quam verisimilius videretur, ut tu hic non esses, et ego hic essem, Domine! Sed ego nec hic, nec alibi sum; quia ad nihilum redactus sum, et nescivi. Vere ad nihilum, id est ad peccatum, et nescivi; quia non fui ibi cum primus parens meus devoravit me morsu amarissimo. Hinc est quod, corde confractus et corpore diffluo in voluptates, in amaritudines, habens innatam culpam, poenam cognatam, totus fluidus et enervis. Ille autem qui idem ipse est, qui dixit: Ego sum qui sum, veraciter est, cui est esse quod est. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Diversis, Sermon IV, De Quaerendo Deo Source: Migne PL 183.551d-552c

Let us not be here uselessly all day. For we know what we seek, and who it is who leads us. We seek God, we hope for God. It is not a trivial matter, not the work of a petty soul, when that which glories in the unique name of piety, shall often seek in itself in vain, saying: 'I sought him and I did not find him.' 1 For as He is loveable so He is wondrous, because when He is not sought He is found, and He is not found when He is sought. If we were born at that time when man was made upon the earth and our life were extended even to a hundred thousand years, yet there would be no worthy quest of this time but the future glory which shall be revealed to us. Behold, now is the time of seeking, behold, now is the day of finding what is before the hands. 'Seek the Lord,' he says, 'while you can find Him. Call on Him when He is near.' 2 There shall be a time where there is no place, when the fount of mercy has run dry to an endless aridity. 'You shall seek me,' He says, and 'you shall not find me.' 3 You are good, Lord, to the souls who seek you. And if to those who seek you, how much more to those who find you? If the thought of it is so sweet, how shall the presence be? If honey and milk are sweet beneath the tongue, how shall they be on the tongue? Because of this, examine yourself, brothers, to see if you are on the way, if you have not wandered away. Let the heart of the seeker of the Lord rejoice, it says. If you take joy in labours, if you are not vexed, if with unwearying foot you run the way of the commandments of God, if every day the state of the man is nearer perfection than at the beginning, certainly you seek His face always. 4 Why then does delight fade from delight and we must seek Him? Where is He? What have I, a wretch, said? Where is He not? Higher than heaven, deeper than hell, broader than the earth, more widespread than the sea. He is nowhere, He is everywhere. Because He is not absent from any place, nor is He limited by any place. He is here, but I am not here. How true it seems, that you are not here and I am here, Lord. But I am not here, and I am not elsewhere, because I have been reduced to nothing, and I do not know anymore. 5 Truly, I have been reduced to nothing, that is, to sin, and I do not know anymore. Because I was not there when my first parent devoured me with the most bitter bite. Because of this with broken heart and body I am undone in pleasure, in bitterness, having inborn fault, inherited punishment, all feeble and infirm. And He who is the same always, who said: 'I am who I am,' 6 He truly is, to whom it is to be what He is. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons Concerning Various Things, from Sermon 4, On Seeking God 1 Song 3.1 2 Isaiah 55.6 3 Jn 7.34 4 Ps 104.3-4 5 Ps 72.22 6 Exod 3.14