[Pearls Episode 142: The Cloud of Unknowing.]
Last Sunday’s scripture readings brought us Moses (Ex 17:8-13), watching over and interceding for the battle against Amalek, and Jesus (Lk 18:1-8) guiding us with those two powerful words – “pray always.” Those passages gave us a great reminder of some basic principles:
- All of scripture points to Christ.
- Our interior life takes priority over our exterior life.
- Pray always – and don’t overcomplicate it..
- Pray persistently (different from always).
This Sunday, we again return to basics, with readings from Sirach and Luke (the parable of the proud Pharisee and humble tax collector).
But we arrive at the basics from a different perspective – from the heights of mysticism as reflected in Mystical Theology and The Cloud of Unknowing. These towering works show us a path to God known as the via negativa – coming to God by stripping away all that is not God.
We’ll release our weekly video with tomorrow’s follow up email. For today, we start with this passage from Sunday’s first reading from Sirach:
“The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.”
The Cloud of Unknowing zeroes in on “the prayer of the lowly that pierces the clouds.” Two questions stand out:
- What is so special about the prayer of the lowly?
- If God is always with us, and even within us, why must our prayer “pierce the clouds”?
We intuitively have answers to these questions, but the authors of The Cloud and Mystical Theology take us to new levels. As we’ll see tomorrow.
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life