Satiety and the Divine Light

That which is called life and truth according to its underlying reality. 'Ask,' he says, 'the great things, and the small things will be added to you.' Thus, the one asking for small things says to God, but not with a shouting voice. 'Ask,' he says, 'the heavenly things, and the earthly things will be added to you.' Therefore, the one sending up a prayer concerning sensible things previously does not cry out to God; he speaks to Him calmly. But the one asking for those truly great and heavenly things and those making one god-like cries out to God. For thought is the cry.

7–8 'Have mercy on me and hear me,' my heart has said to you (Psalm 51:1). My mind has said to you: 'from you I ask mercy.' My heart expects mercy from you and says to you, 'hear me.' These things turn back toward themselves: the one being shown mercy by God is heard, and the one being heard is shown mercy. It is not possible, then, to say one before the other. But to hear precedes to show mercy. Yet not in time before. And just as it is not possible to say appearance before color, nor color before appearance. If there is color, there is appearance. If there is appearance, it has been colored. Appearance is pre-conceived. It is necessary for there to be an appearance, so that there may be such color. And the 'it is necessary' I do not take according to time, but according to thought.

'My heart has said to you.' It signifies persons. According to every word, the three persons are signified: the one speaking, and that toward which he speaks, and that concerning which he speaks. Therefore, the person of the one praying is the one now announcing. And he announces the petition to no one other than God. 8 'I sought your face' (Psalm 27:8). My heart saying, 'have mercy and hear me.' I did not seek your face before now. Your face, I did not entreat only now: 'let your face shine upon me and we shall be saved' (Psalm 27:9). And 'I sought' signifies a seeking that was not raised. 8 'Your face, Lord, I will seek.' My heart, Lord, will seek your face. Even if 'I sought' and I had it grasping me, I do not cease until this. Again I seek it. 9 'Do not turn your face away from me' (Psalm 27:9). The eye which is healthy and preserves the virtue of sight, when light is present, has a desire for it, and it is never satisfied; for light is insatiable for the eyes: 'sweet to the eyes,' as the Preacher says (Psalm 19:8). But no one takes satisfaction from the sweet. There is sweet...

Things that satisfy the child, like the sweetness from honey. But that which comes from the light has no satiety, especially when the vision possesses its own inherent virtue. Therefore, moving from the sensible to the intelligible: the eye of the inner man, or the eyes, are never filled and never receive satiety from the face of God; for it is always appearing, illuminating and increasing the desire. 'The light of your face has been marked upon us, O Lord' (Ps 4:6); it remains. But that of the sun, or generally of the sensible light, does not remain. For if anyone withdraws from seeing the light or closes the eyes, he does not have it marked. But the intelligible light appears to remain to the one having been illuminated; it is not cast away.

Do not turn away in anger from your servant (Ps 103:13). It is possible for one to seem as if God is turning away, but not in anger. Some thought that He turned away from Job when his possessions, his children, and his body were delivered to the one asking; but this did not happen in anger. May it not happen so concerning me, from our own sluggishness, so that you should turn your face away from me in anger. Both are therefore possible; may such a thing not be done to me, so that having been angered, you turn away from me. Or thus: may you not be angered in such a way that I am deprived of your presence. 'Become my helper, do not cast me off' (Ps 142:5). Some manuscripts have: 'do not forsake me.' To cast off, to reject, to send away, is the same as to cast off. For in Isaiah it is carried: 'and he casts him off' (Isa 17:4). And observe the precision of the word; it does not always mean the occurrence of a becoming, but rather signifies that which the addition intends. And 'become my helper' is applied here. For one who is becoming a helper to someone does not simply 'become.' I have also said at other times that verbs which imply a becoming, if they are spoken unrestrictedly, signify a creative act: 'all things came into being through him,' instead of 'all things came into being through him.' 'In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth' (Gen 1:1). It is not 'what He made,' but this very thing: 'heaven and earth.' And when it says: 'become my helper, do not forsake me,' it says: 'become a helper to me.' The relationship signifies the helper in relation to the one being helped. So we also say: 'become my teacher,' and it does not mean they are a teacher, but 'become a teacher to me.' Such things are also...