Now hear me well—we are still nonetheless in the very light of the
Gospel that shines high above our heads. Watch out for the pain,
though, [that the light can cause]! Thankfully, the hairs on our head and
the bones in our skull block and prevent that light from penetrating the
private space of our intellect.”
[ 7 ] After he finished his remarks, he came down from the pulpit and
offered votive prayers at the altar, and the worship service came to an end.
Afterward I went over to a group of people who were talking
together. The priest was there also. The people standing there said to the
priest, “We wish to express our undying gratitude to you for a sermon
that was both magnificent and rich in wisdom.”
I asked them, “Did you understand anything?”
“We took it all in with open ears,” they answered. “But why do you
ask whether we understood it? Isn’t the intellect too stupid to understand
these topics?”
To what they had said the priest added, “Because you heard and did
not understand, you are blessed, since you have salvation as a result.”
[ 8 ] Later on I talked to the priest. I asked whether he had a post-
graduate degree. He answered, “I have a master’s degree.”
Then I said, “Sir, I heard you preaching mysteries. If you know of
those mysteries but you don’t know what they contain, you don’t know
anything. The mysteries are then just like a treasure chest bolted shut
with three locks. Unless you open it up and look inside, which would
require your intellect, you don’t know whether the things inside are pre-
cious, worthless, or toxic. They could be the eggs of a poisonous snake
and the webs of spiders, as Isaiah describes in chapter 59,verse 5 .”
At that, the priest glared at me severely.
The worshipers went out and climbed aboard their carriages, drunk
on paradoxes, knocked senseless by meaningless expressions, and wrapped
in darkness regarding all aspects of faith and the means of being saved.
The second memorable occurrence.On one occasion I was turning over 186
in my thinking [the question of ] what level of our mind theological issues
occupy. Because they are spiritual and heavenly I started out thinking
they must occupy the highest level in us. (The human mind is differenti-
ated into three levels, like a three-story house. Similarly, the homelands of
the angels are differentiated into three heavens.)
Then an angel appeared standing next to me and said, “In those who
love the truth because it is true, theological issues rise even to the highest
level. The heaven of such people is on that level, and they have the light
§186 the holy spirit & divine action 259