In contemplating the Source, Creator, God—the inexpressible, transcendent Ground of All Being that is both the Origin and Sustainer of the Universe—we are confronted with the apex of human aspiration. This is the Ultimate Mystery, Deepest Question, and Divine Essence that provides Life with its most elusive and sublime meaning, the Telos towards which all quests for Wisdom, Truth, and Divine Union inherently lead.
The Apostle Paul, in a masterstroke of rhetorical and spiritual engagement, addresses the diverse assembly of Athenian seekers gathered at the Areopagus. It is on Mars Hill that he elucidates the ineffable nature of God:
The transcendent, ineffable Source and Sustainer of the universe... the Deepest Question, Mystery, and Meaning of life... that humanity is pursuing...
"The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one _man_every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’ Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent..."
This passage furnishes us with a multi-dimensional tableau. It portrays a plethora of human communities, each circumscribed by its own SpatioTemporal boundaries, yet united in their existential search for the God. This search is not merely cognitive but deeply tactile and somatic; it is described as "feeling their way toward him," capturing the groping, yearning, and reaching that characterizes humanity's collective spiritual odyssey. The metaphor suggests a labyrinthine journey, where humans are simultaneously confined by their finitude and yet irresistibly beckoned towards the infinite.
Paul’s discourse is remarkable in another sense: it emphasizes the immanence of God. This God is not a remote or indifferent entity but is "not far from each one of us", and indeed within us. Paul underscores the participatory nature of our existence in God, that "in Him we live and move and have our being." This captures the interconnectedness, the Mutual Indwelling, and the ontological intimacy between God and humanity.
And herein lies the transformational power of such engagement with the Divine: in approaching this unspeakable Source, we become both agents and recipients of transformation. As we grapple with Reality, armed with the insights from the sacred Word, we are altered, refined, and re-orientated. This ceaseless dialectical interchange between Logos and Realization, this spiritual reciprocation and unfurling, mediated through Spirit and Prayer, becomes the crucible for our ongoing metamorphosis. We are, thus, not merely explorers but Co-Creators, not only spectators but actors in a Divine drama, reaching ever closer to a state of Symphony with the eternal Spirit, Wisdom, Principles, and Values emanating from God.
Through this dialectic of Word and World, we find that the boundaries of our SpatioTemporal existence are simultaneously a confining shell and a womb of endless possibility, and as we strive to transcend these limitations, we realize that we are both the sculptors and the sculptures in an ongoing act of Divine Co-Creation.
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