Grasping The Divine

Οἶδα τίνος ἐσμὲν λειτουργοὶ, καὶ ποῦ κείμενοι, καὶ ποῦ πέμποντες· οἶδα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ ὕψος, καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν, καὶ τὴν δύναμιν πάλιν· Οὐρανὸς ὑψηλὸς, γῆ δὲ βαθεῖα. Καὶ τίς ἀναβήσεται τῶν ἐῤῥιμμένων τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ; Τίς περικείμενος ἔτι τὸν κάτω ζόφον καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν παχύτητα ὅλῳ νοῒ καθαρῶς ἐποπτεύσει νοῦν ὅλον, καὶ μιγήσεται τοῖς ἑστῶσι καὶ ἀοράτοις ἐν τοῖς ἀστάτοις καὶ ὁρωμένοις; Μόλις γὰρ ἄν τις ἐνταῦθα τῶν σφόδρα κεκαθαρμένων καὶ εἴδωλον τοῦ καλοῦ θεωρήσειεν, ὥσπερ οἱ τὸν ἥλιον ἐν τοῖς ὕδασι. Τίς ὁ μετρήσας τῇ χειρὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν σπιθαμῇ, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν δρακί; Τίς ἔστησε τὰ ὄρη σταθμῷ, καὶ τὰς νάπας ζυγῷ; Τίς τόπος τῆς καταπαύσεως αὐτοῦ, καὶ τίνι τῶν πάντων ὁμοιωθήσεται; Τίς ὁ ποιήσας τὰ πάντα ἐν λόγῳ, καὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ κατασκευάσας ἄνθρωπον, καὶ εἰς ἓν ἀγαγὼν τὰ διεστῶτα, καὶ μίξας τὸν χοῦν τῷ πνεύματι, καὶ συνθεὶς ζῶον ὁρατὸν καὶ ἀόρατον, πρόσκαιρον καὶ ἀθάνατον, ἐπίγειον καὶ οὐράνιον, ἁπτόμενον Θεοῦ καὶ οὐ περιδρασσόμενον, ἐγγίζον καὶ μακρυνόμενον; Εἶπα, σοφισθήσομαι, φησὶν ὁ Σολομῶν, καὶ αὐτὴ ἐμακρύνθη ἀπ' ἐμοῦ μακρὸν ὑπὲρ ὃ ἦν, τὴν σοφίαν λέγων. Καὶ ὄντως ὁ προστιθεὶς γνῶσιν προστίθησιν ἄλγημα· οὐ μᾶλλον εὐφραίνοντος τοῦ εὑρεθέντος ἢ ἀνιῶντος τοῦ διαφεύγοντος· ὅπερ, οἶμαι, φιλεῖ συμβαίνειν τοῖς ἔτι διψῶσιν ἀποσπωμένοις ὕδατος· ἢ κρατεῖν τι οὐ δυναμένοις, ἔχειν νομίζουσιν· ἢ οὓς ἀπῆλθεν εὐθὺς ἀστραπὴ περιλάμψασα. Τοῦτό με ἵστη κάτω, καὶ ταπεινὸν ἐποίει, καὶ εἶναι βέλτιον ἔπειθεν ἀκούειν φωνὴν αἰνέσεως, ἢ ἐξηγητὴν εἶναι τῶν ὑπὲρ δύναμιν· ἡ μεγαλειότης, καὶ τὸ ὕψος, καὶ τὸ ἀξίωμα, καὶ αἱ καθαραὶ φύσεις μόλις χωροῦσαι Θεοῦ λαμπρότητα, ὃν ἄβυσσος καλύπτει, οὗ σκότος ἀποκρυφὴ, φωτὸς ὄντος τοῦ καθαρωτάτου καὶ ἀπροσίτουτοῖς πλείοσιν·ὃς ἐν τῷ παντὶ τῷδε, καὶ τοῦ παντός ἐστιν ἔξω·ὃς καλόν ἐστιν ἅπαν, καὶ ἄνω παντὸς καλοῦ·ὃς νοῦν φωτίζει, καὶ διαφεύγει νοῦ τάχος καὶ ὕψος, ὑπο χωρῶν ἀεὶ τοσοῦτον, ὅσον καταλαμβάνεται, καὶ ὑπ άγων πρὸς τὰ ἄνω τὸν ἐραστὴν τῷ φεύγειν, καὶ τῷ οἷον κρατούμενος κλέπτεσθαι. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος Β’ Source: Migne PG 35.481b-484a

I know whose priests we are, and where we are set, and to where we guide. I know the height of God, and the infirmity of man, and again, the power. Heaven is high, the earth is low, and who of those who have been cast down by sin shall ascend? He who is yet embroiled in the gloom below and in the grossness of the flesh, shall he gaze clearly with his whole mind on that whole mind, and mixed in with unstable and visible things hold association with what is stable and invisible? For hardly may anyone here, even among those who have been most specially purged, look on even an image of the Good, as those who look on the sun on the water. Who has measured the waters in his hand, and heaven with the hand's span, and the whole earth with a measure? Who has placed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 1 What is the place of His rest and to who shall He be compared? Who is it who made everything by His Word, and fashioned man by His wisdom, and gathered scattered things into one, and mixed dust with spirit, and put together an animal visible and invisible, temporal and immortal, earthly and heavenly, which may touch God but not grasp Him, coming near and yet far off? Solomon, speaking of wisdom, declares: 'I said, 'I will be wise,' but she was far from me, far beyond what is.' And truly, 'He who increases knowledge increases sorrow.' 2 For the joy of what we have found is no greater than the grief of what escapes us; which, I think, is like what is felt by those who while thirsty are dragged off from water, or who cannot keep hold or what they think they have, or who are suddenly left in the dark by a flash of lightning. This cast me down and kept me humble, and I was persuaded that it was better to hear the voice of praise than to be an expounder of what was beyond my ability; the majesty, and the height, and the dignity, and the pure natures scarce able to contain the splendour of God, whom the deep covers, whom darkness hides, since He is purest light, 3 and utterly inacessible, He who is in all things and He who is beyond all things, He who is all goodness, 4 and above all goodness, He who enlightens the mind and escapes the mind's quickness and height, always retiring as much as He is apprehended, and by His flight withdrawing to the things above the one who desires Him, and stealing away as much as He is grasped. Saint Gregory Nazianzus, from Oration 2 1 Isaiah 40.12 2 Eccles 7.24, 1.18 3 1 Tim 6.16 4 Exod 33.19