Confessions of a Rational Mystic

CAPITULUM XVI

350 I PRO S LOG ION CAPITULUM XVI Quod haec sit lux inaccessibilis, quam inhabitat 2 Tm 6:16 Vere, Domine, haec est lux inaccessibilis, in qua habitas . Vere enim non est aliud quod hanc penetret, ut ibi te pervideat. Vere ideo hanc non video, quia nimia mihi est; et tamen quidquid video, per illam video, sicut infirmus oculus quod videt, per lucem solis videt, quam in ipso sole nequit aspicere. Non potest intellectus meus ad illam. Nimis fulget, non capit illam, n~c suffert oculus animae meae diu intendere in illam. Reverberatur fulgore, vincitur amplitudine, obruitur immensitate, confunditur capacitate. o summa et inaccessibilis lux, o tota et beata veritas, quam longe es a me, qui tam prope tibi sum! Quam remota es a conspectu meo, qui sic praesens sum conspectui tuo! Ubique es tota praesens - et non te video. Acts 17:28 In te moveor et in te sum - et ad te non possum accedere. Intra me et circa me es - et non te sentio. 350 I PRO S LOG ION CAPITULUM XVI Quod haec sit lux inaccessibilis, quam inhabitat 2 Tm 6:16 Vere, Domine, haec est lux inaccessibilis, in qua habitas . Vere enim non est aliud quod hanc penetret, ut ibi te pervideat. Vere ideo hanc non video, quia nimia mihi est; et tamen quidquid video, per illam video, sicut infirmus oculus quod videt, per lucem solis videt, quam in ipso sole nequit aspicere. Non potest intellectus meus ad illam. Nimis fulget, non capit illam, n~c suffert oculus animae meae diu intendere in illam. Reverberatur fulgore, vincitur amplitudine, obruitur immensitate, confunditur capacitate. o summa et inaccessibilis lux, o tota et beata veritas, quam longe es a me, qui tam prope tibi sum! Quam remota es a conspectu meo, qui sic praesens sum conspectui tuo! Ubique es tota praesens - et non te video. Acts 17:28 In te moveor et in te sum - et ad te non possum accedere. Intra me et circa me es - et non te sentio. 351 I Text and Translation Chapter 16 That this is the inaccessible light which he inhabits Truly, lord, this is the inaccessible light in which you dwell. For truly there is nothing else that can penetrate it so as to lookupon you there. Truly, therefore, I do not see it, since it is too much for me; and yet whatever I see, I see by means ofit-just as an eye that is weak sees what it sees by the light ofthe sun, which it cannot look at in the sun itself. My understanding is not up to it. It shines too brilliantly; I grasp it not. Nor may the eye of my soul direct itselfto it for long. It is dazzl~d by its splendor, overcome by its vastness, overwhelmed by its immensity, confused by its extent. o supreme and inaccessible light, o whole and blessed truth! How far you are from me, who am so near to you! How distant you are from my sight, whose sight I am so present to! You are wholly present everywhere, and I do not see you. In you I move and in you I am, and yet I cannot approach you. You are within me and around me, and I do not experience you. 351 I Text and Translation Chapter 16 That this is the inaccessible light which he inhabits Truly, lord, this is the inaccessible light in which you dwell. For truly there is nothing else that can penetrate it so as to lookupon you there. Truly, therefore, I do not see it, since it is too much for me; and yet whatever I see, I see by means ofit-just as an eye that is weak sees what it sees by the light ofthe sun, which it cannot look at in the sun itself. My understanding is not up to it. It shines too brilliantly; I grasp it not. Nor may the eye of my soul direct itselfto it for long. It is dazzl~d by its splendor, overcome by its vastness, overwhelmed by its immensity, confused by its extent. o supreme and inaccessible light, o whole and blessed truth! How far you are from me, who am so near to you! How distant you are from my sight, whose sight I am so present to! You are wholly present everywhere, and I do not see you. In you I move and in you I am, and yet I cannot approach you. You are within me and...