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Chapter 7BlinckSteen.1.7

Tweede deel — III. De godschouwing en de gelukzalige aanschouwing

The Shadow and the Sun

The author contrasts the mediated, shadowed knowledge of God in this life with the direct, unmediated clarity experienced by the saints.

There is a great difference between the clarity of the saints and the highest clarity we can reach in this life. For the shadow of God lights up our interior wilderness.1 But on the high mountains, in the land of promise, there is no shadow. Still, it is all one sun and one clarity that lights our wilderness and the high mountains too. But the state of the saints is transparent and glorious, so they receive that clarity directly, without any medium.2 But our state is still mortal and coarse, and this is the medium from which the shadow comes that so overshadows our understanding that we cannot know God or heavenly things as clearly as the saints do.3 For as long as we walk in the shadow, we cannot see the sun in itself, but our knowing is 'in likenesses and in mysteries,' says Saint Paul. Still, the shadow is so lit by the shining of the sun that we can learn to discern among all the virtues and all the truth that belongs to our mortal body.

The Contemplative Path

To attain unity with God, the soul must move beyond itself into unknowing, contrasting the current state of grace with the darkness of the Old Testament.

But if we are to become one with the sun's brightness, we must follow love and move beyond ourselves into unknowing.4 And with blinded eyes, the sun will draw us into its own brightness, where we possess unity with God. If we feel and understand ourselves in this way, that is the contemplative life that belongs to our state.5 The state of the Jews in the Old Testament was cold and in the night; their walk was in darkness, and they sat in the shadow of death, as the prophet Isaiah says. The shadow of death came from original sin, and for that reason they had to go without all of God.6

Morning Light and Midday Glory

The Christian life is described as a morning state of grace, which serves as a foretaste of the midday glory of the saints.

But our state in the Christian faith is still cool in the morning hours, for the day has risen for us.✦ For that reason, we will walk in the light and sit in the shadow of God, and His grace will mediate between us and Him.✦✦7 Through it, we will overcome all things, die to everything, and pass unhindered into oneness with God.8 But the state of the saints is hot and bright, for they live and walk at midday. And with open, enlightened eyes they behold the sun in her brightness, for they are flowed through and overflowing with the glory of God.9 Once enlightened, each one tastes and knows the fruit of every virtue gathered there from all spirits. But that they taste and know Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity, and find themselves united with it—that is the highest food, which wholly surfeits, makes drunk, and brings rest in its own essence.1011 This is what the bride desired in the Song of Songs when she spoke to Christ: “Show me the one my soul loves, where you feed and where you rest at midday”—that is, in the light of glory, says Saint Bernard. For all the food given to us here in the morning and in the shadow is only a foretaste of the food to come at the midday of God's glory.

The Sweetness of Divine Touch

The soul experiences God through an inward-drawing touch that brings both death to self and the sweetness of divine fruit.

Still, our Lord's bride glories that she has sat under the shadow of God, and that his fruit is sweet to her throat. When we feel that God is touching us from within, then we taste his fruit and his food, for his touch is his feeding. His touch either draws us in or flows out, just as I said before. When he draws us in, we must be entirely his; there we learn to die and to contemplate. But when he flows out, he wants to be entirely ours; there he teaches us to live in the riches of virtues. In his drawing-in touch, all our powers fail, and then we sit under his shadow, and then his fruit is sweet to our taste.✦12

The Sparkling Stone and the New Name

God imparts a unique identity to the soul, symbolized by the sparkling stone and the new name written in the book of life.

For the fruit of God is the Son of God, whom the Father brings to birth in our spirit. This fruit is so bottomlessly sweet to our throat that we cannot swallow it or change it into ourselves; instead, it swallows us and transforms us into itself.✦13 And whenever this fruit touches us by drawing us inward, we let go of everything and overcome all things.14 And in overcoming everything, we taste that hidden heavenly bread that gives us eternal life. For we receive the sparkling stone I mentioned earlier, in which our new name has been written since before the world began.✦ This is the new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.✦ And everyone who feels united with God tastes his name according to the manner of his virtue, his approach, and his unity.15 And this is why—so that everyone may receive their name and possess it forever—the Lamb of God, that is, the humanity of our Lord, gave himself over to death and opened the book of life for us, in which all the names of the elect are written.✦ And not one of those names can be blotted out, because they are one with the living book, which is the Son of God.✦16 That same death has broken the seal of the book for us, so that every virtue may be brought to completion according to God's eternal providence.✦

Children and Heirs of God

The Holy Spirit confirms our status as children of God, and we bow before the name of Jesus, who leads us toward eternal glory.

And for this reason, once each person can overcome himself and die to all things, he then feels the Father's drawing touch, and then the inborn fruit of the Son tastes sweet to him; and from that taste the Holy Spirit bears him witness that he is a child and heir of God.✦1718 And in these three points no one is like another in every way. For this reason, each one is named in a particular way, and his name is always renewed through new grace and new works of virtue.✦19 And for this reason every knee bows before the name of Jesus, because he has fought for us and conquered. And he has enlightened our darknesses for us, and brought every virtue to completion in the highest degree.20 That is why his name is exalted above every name: because he is the ruler and prince over all the elect. And in his name we are called and chosen and adorned with graces and with virtues, and we wait for the glory of God.

Read the original Latin

Het es groot ondersceet tuschen claerheit der heilighen, ende die hoochste claerheit daer wij toe comen moghen in desen levene. Want die scadue gods die verlicht onse inwindighe woestine. Maer op die hoghe berghe, inden lande der gheloften, daer en es ghene scadue. Nochtan eest al ééne sonne ende ééne claerheit die onse woestine verlicht ende oec die hooghe berghe. Maer die staet der heilighen es doerscinich ende glorioes, ende hier omme ontfaen si die claerheit onghemiddelt. Maer onse staet es noch sterfelijc ende grof, ende dit es dat middel daer die scaduwe ave comt die onze verstendicheit alsoe bescaduut, dat wij gode noch hemelsche dinghen niet bekinnen en moghen also claerlijc als die heilighen doen. Want alsoe langhe alse wij wandelen in die scaduwe, soe en connen wij die zonne in haer-selven niet ghesien, maer onse bekinnen es ‘in ghelijckenissen ende in verborghenheiden’, spreect sente pauwels. Nochtan wert die scaduwe vanden scinen der zonnen alsoe verlicht dat wij moghen leeren ondersceet in allen duechden ende alle die waerheit die onsen sterfelijcken lichaem toebehoort.

Maer selen wij met der sonnen claerheyt één werden, soe moeten wij der minnen volghen, ende ons-selfs utegaen in onwisen. Ende met verblentden oghen sal ons die sonne trecken in haers selfs claerheit, daer wij eenicheit met gode besitten. Eest dat wij ons aldus ghevoelen ende verstaen, dat es scouwende leven dat onsen state toebehoort. Die staet der joden inden ouden testamente die was cout ende inder nacht, ende hare wandelinghe was in donckerheiden, ende si saten in die scaduwe der doot spreect die prophete ysayas. Die scaduwe der doot quam vander erfzonden, ende daer-omme moesten si alle gods derven.

Maer onsen staet in kerstenen ghelove die es noch coel inder morghenstonden; want ons es den dach opghegaen. Ende hier-omme sal onse wandelinghe sijn inden lichte, ende wij zullen sitten inde scadue gods, ende tuscen ons ende gode sal middelen sine ghenade. Ende overmids haer selen wij al verwinnen ende alles sterven ende onghehindert overliden in eenicheiden met gode.

Maer die staet der heilighen die es heet ende claer, want si leven ende wandelen inden middaghe. Ende met openen verclaerden oghen aenscouwen si die zonne in harer claerheit, want si zijn dorvloeyt ende overvloeyt met der gloriën gods. Ende na dat yeghewelc verclaert es, soe smaect hi ende bekint: vrocht alre doechde die daer van allen gheesten vergadert es. Maer dat si smaken ende bekinnen drieheit in eenheit ende eenheit in drieheit, ende hen daer-mede gheëenicht venden, dat is die hoochste spise die al verwent, ende droncken maect ende rusten doet in haers selfsheit. Ende dit begheerde de bruyt inder minnen boec, doen si sprac tot cristume: ‘Toene my den-ghenen die mijn ziele mint, waer du spises ende waer du rastes inden middaghe,’ dat es, inden lichte der gloriën, spreect sinte bernaert. Want alle die spise die ons ghegheven wert hier inder marghenstonden ende inder scaduwen, dat en es maer een voersmaec der toecomender spisen inden middaghe der gloriën gods.

Nochtan beroemt haer die bruyt ons heeren dat si heeft gheseten onder die scaduwe gods, ende dat sine vrocht soete es harer kelen.

Als wij des ghevoelen, dat ons god van binnen gherijnt, soe smaken wij sijnder vrocht ende sijnder spijsen, want sijn gherijnen dat es sijn spisen.

Ende sijn gherijnen es intreckende ochte uutvloeyende, also als ic hier-vore seide. In sinen intreckene moeten wij te-male sine zijn; daer leeren wij sterven ende scouwen. Maer in sinen uutvloeyene wilt hi te-male onse sijn; daer leert hi ons te levene in rijcheden van duechden. In zijn intreckende gherinen falieren al onse crachte, ende dan sitten wij onder sine scadue, ende dan es sine vrocht soete onser kelen.

Want de vrocht gods, dat es de sone gods dien de vader in onsen gheeste ghebaert. Dese vrocht es alsoe grondeloes soete onser kelen, dat wise niet verswelgen en connen, noch verwandelen in ons, maer si verswelcht ende verwandelt ons in hare. Ende altoes als ons dese vrocht intreckende gherijnt, soe laten wij ende verwinnen alle dinc. Ende al verwinnende ghesmaken wij dat verborghen hemels broot dat ons eewich leven gheeft. Want wij ontfaen den blinckenden steen daer ic vore ave seide, daer onse nuwe name in ghescreven es voer dat beghin der werelt. Dit es die nieuwe name die niemen en versteet dan diene ontfeet. Ende yeghewelc die hem met god ghevoelt vereenicht, hi ghesmaect sijns namen na wijse sijnder doechde, sijns toegancs, ende sijnder eenicheit.

Ende hieromme, op-dat yeghewelc sinen name vercrighen mach ende eewelijc besitten, daer-omme heeft hem dat lam gods, dat es de menscheit ons heeren, ghelevert inden doot, ende heeft ons dat boec des levens opghedaen, daer alle de name der vercorene inne staen ghescreven. Ende diere namen en mach één niet verdelijt werden, want si sijn één met den levenden boeke die de sone gods es. Ende die selve doot heeft ons den zeghele vanden boeke ontbonden, alzoe dat alle doechde volbracht werden na die eewighe voersienicheit gods.

Ende hier-omme, na dat yeghewelc mensche hemselven verwinnen can, ende alre dinghen sterven, daer-na ghevoelt hi dat intreckende gherinen des vader, ende daer-na smaect hem soete die ingheborne vrocht des soens; ende ute dien smake tuycht hem die heylighe gheest dat hi een erfkint gods es. Ende in desen drie poenten en es niemen den anderen ghelijc in alre wijs. Ende hier-omme es yeghewelc zonderlinghe ghenaemt; ende zijn name verniewt altoes overmids nuwe gracie ende nuwe werke der doechde.

Ende hieromme bughen alle kniën vore den name jhesus, want hi heeft voer ons ghestreden ende verwonnen. Ende hi heeft ons verclaert onse donckerheiden, ende alle doechden volbracht inden hoochsten graet. Ende daer-omme es sijn name verhaven boven alle namen, want hi es vorste ende prince boven alle die vercorne. Ende in sinen name sijn wij gheroepen ende vercoren ende gheciert met graciën ende met duechden, ende ontbeidende der gloriën gods.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Rom.13.12;2Pet.1.19 — The night is far gone, and the day is at hand; let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 2Pet.1.19 — And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
  2. ↩1John.1.7;John.8.12;Eph.5.8 — But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. John.8.12 — Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' Eph.5.8 — For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light.
  3. ↩Ps.91.1 — Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
  4. ↩Song.2.3 — Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. In his shadow I delighted to sit, and his fruit was sweet to my palate.
  5. ↩Song.2.3 — Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. In his shadow I delighted to sit, and his fruit was sweet to my palate.
  6. ↩Rev.2.17 — The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written that no one knows except the one who receives it.
  7. ↩Rev.2.17 — The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written that no one knows except the one who receives it.
  8. ↩Rev.3.5;Phil.4.3 — The one who conquers will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. Phil.4.3 — Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, for they labored with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
  9. ↩Rev.3.5 — The one who conquers will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
  10. ↩Rev.5.1-Rev.5.9 — And I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Rev.5.2 — And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?' Rev.5.3 — And no one in heaven, nor on the earth, nor under the earth, was able to open the scroll or to look into it. Rev.5.4 — And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Rev.5.5 — And one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep. Behold, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so as to open the scroll and its seven seals.' Rev.5.6 — And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Rev.5.7 — And he came and took the scroll from the right hand of the one seated on the throne. Rev.5.8 — And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Rev.5.9 — And they sing a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed for God people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.'
  11. ↩Rom.8.16-Rom.8.17 — The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Rom.8.17 — And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
  12. ↩Rev.2.17;Isa.62.2 — The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written that no one knows except the one who receives it. Isa.62.2 — The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will designate.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩scadue gods: the shadow of God is itself illuminating in this life—mediated divine light, not darkness alone. inwindighe woestine: interior wilderness/desert of the soul.
  2. 2 ↩doerscinich: through-shining / diaphanous / transparent to the light. onghemiddelt: unmediated, without intermediate veil—direct reception of divine clarity.
  3. 3 ↩middel: the mediating condition (mortal/coarse state) that produces the shadow over the intellect. grof: coarse, gross, dense—not merely rough.
  4. 4 ↩onwisen is Ruusbroec's apophatic term for unknowing (beyond discursive knowledge), not mere ignorance or folly.
  5. 5 ↩scouwende leven rendered as contemplative life (beholding/contemplation), the standing Ruusbroec sense of scouwen.
  6. 6 ↩alle gods derven: go without / be deprived of all of God (total lack of divine enjoyment), not merely some goods of God.
  7. 7 ↩scadue gods deliberately contrasts the previous section’s scaduwe der doot (shadow of death). Rendered as ‘shadow of God’ to keep the biblical cadence and the antithesis.
  8. 8 ↩haer refers to ghenade (grace, feminine) from the previous sentence: ‘through it’ = by means of grace. alles sterven is mystical dying-to-all-things, not physical death.
  9. 9 ↩dorvloeyt ende overvloeyt: rendered as 'flowed through and overflowing' to keep Ruusbroec's double flood image (permeated from within and running over).
  10. 10 ↩haers selfsheit taken as the food's / divine essence's own selfhood (singular feminine haers agreeing with spise), not the saints' selfhood: rest in God's essential being.
  11. 11 ↩verwent: 'wholly surfeits' (overfills / spoils with abundance), not moral 'spoils'.
  12. 12 ↩onser kelen is literally "to our throat"; rendered "to our taste" for natural modern English while preserving the Song of Songs cadence.
  13. 13 ↩vrocht is feminine (hare); kept the fruit as 'it' in English while preserving the mutual-transforming mystical sense.
  14. 14 ↩intreckende gherijnt is Ruusbroec’s technical pair for the inward-drawing divine touch (vs. outflowing); rendered as touch by drawing us inward.
  15. 15 ↩toegancs can mean approach, access, or way of coming near God; rendered as approach to keep the triad virtue–approach–unity clear.
  16. 16 ↩Middle Dutch verdelijt can point either to blotting out/destroying (verdelgen) or to dividing/distributing (verdelen). Rendered as 'blotted out' because the names stand in the book of life; if the lemma is verdelen, the sense would be that no name can be divided away or shared out, since each is one with the living book.
  17. 17 ↩Middle Dutch intreckende gherinen is a Ruusbroeckian technical term for the inward-drawing, attracting touch of God; rendered here as "drawing touch" to keep the sense of being pulled inward, not a merely sensory contact.
  18. 18 ↩ingheborne vrocht des soens: the fruit of the Son that is born/inborn within the soul (the fruit of the eternal generation, tasted interiorly).
  19. 19 ↩zonderlinghe can mean specially, particularly, or uniquely; rendered as "in a particular way" to keep the contrast with the common path of the three points while preserving each person's distinct naming.
  20. 20 ↩verclaert can mean ‘made clear,’ ‘revealed,’ or ‘illumined’; here the contrast with donckerheiden favors ‘enlightened/illumined.’

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