HERE BEGINS THE SPECULATION OF THE POOR MAN
IN THE DESERT*
Chapter One
The Steps in the Ascent to God and the Consideration of Him through His Footsteps in the
Universe
1. Blessed
is the man[1]
whose help is from thee;
in his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps in
the vale of tears, in the place which he hath set. Since happiness is nothing else
than the enjoyment of the Supreme Good and the Supreme Good is above us, no one can enjoy
happiness unless he rise above himself, not, indeed by a bodily ascent, but by an ascent
of the heart. But we cannot rise above ourselves unless a superior power raise us.
However
much, then, the steps of our interior progress may be well-ordered, we can do nothing
unless divine aid support us. This divine aid is at hand for all who seek it with a truly
humble and devout heart. To seek thus in this vale of tears is to sigh for divine aid in
fervent prayer. Prayer, then, is the mother and origin of every upward striving of the
soul. Thus Dionysius, in his book, Mystical Theology, wishing to instruct us in the
transports of soul, opens first with a prayer. Let us, therefore, pray and say to the
Lord, our God: Conduct me, O Lord, in thy way and I will enter into thy truth; let my
heart rejoice that it may fear thy name.
2. By so
praying, we are given light to discern the steps of the soul's ascent to God.[2]
For we are
so created that the material universe itself is a ladder by which we may ascend to God.
And among things, some are vestiges, others, images;[3]
some corporeal, others, spiritual;
some temporal, others, everlasting;[4]
some things are outside us,
and some within. In order
to arrive at the consideration of the First Principle, which is wholly spiritual and
eternal and above us, we must pass through vestiges which are corporeal and temporal and
outside us. Thus we are guided in the way of God. Next we must enter into our mind, which
is the image of God - an image which is everlasting, spiritual , and within us.
And this
is to enter the truth of God. Finally, looking at the First Principle, we must go beyond
to what is eternal, absolutely spiritual, and above us. This is to rejoice in the
knowledge of God and in the reverent fear of His Majesty.
3. This triple
way of seeing, then, is the three day's journey in the wilderness;[5]
it is the threefold
enlightenment of a single day: the first is like evening; the second, morning; and the
third, noon day. It reflects the threefold existence of things: in matter, in the
understanding, and in the eternal art,
[6]
according to which it was
said: Let it be made,
He made it, and it was made.[7]
Finally, it reflects
the threefold substance in Christ,
Who is our ladder: the corporeal, the spiritual, and the divine substance.
4. In keeping
with this threefold progression, our mind has three principal ways of perceiving.[8]
In the
first way it looks at the corporeal things outside itself, and so acting, it is called
animality or sensitivity. In the second, it looks within itself, and is then called
spirit. In the third, it looks above itself, and is then called mind.
All three ways
should be employed to ascent to God, so that He may be loved with thy whole heart, and
with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. Herein lies the perfect observance of
the Law and at the same time, Christian wisdom.
5. Each of the
foregoing ways of seeing may be subdivided according to whether we consider God as the
Alpha and the Omega, or whether we consider Him in any one of the aforesaid
ways as through and as in a mirror. Or we may consider each of these ways in conjunction
with another that is related to it, and in itself.[9]
Therefore, these three principal steps
of ascent must be increased to six in number. Thus, just as God completed the whole world
in six days and on the seventh rested, so the lesser world is led in a most orderly
fashion, through six progressive steps of enlightenment, to the quiet of contemplation.
Symbolically, the ascent to the throne of Solomon rose by six steps; the Seraphim that
Isaias saw had six wings; after six days the Lord called Moses out of the midst of the
cloud; and as St. Matthew tells us, it was after six days that Christ led them
up a high mountain by themselves, and was transfigured before them.
6.
Corresponding, therefore, to the six steps in the ascent to God, there are six gradated
powers of the soul, whereby we ascend from the lowest to the highest,[10]
from external things
to those that are within, and from the temporal to the eternal. These six powers are the
senses, the imagination, the reason, the understanding, the intelligence, and the summit
of the mind of the spark of synderesis.[11]
We have these powers implanted within us by
nature, deformed through sin, reformed through grace. They must be cleansed by justice,
trained by knowledge, and perfected by wisdom.
7.
According
to the original disposition of nature, man was created fit for the quiet of contemplation
and thus God placed him in the paradise of pleasure. But turning away from the true
light to a changeable good, he and all his descendants were by his fault bent over[12]
by
original sin, which infected human nature in a twofold manner: the mind with ignorance,
and the flesh with concupiscence. The result is that man, blinded and bent over, sits in
darkness and does not see the light of heaven, unless grace comes to his aid with justice
against concupiscence, and with knowledge and wisdom against ignorance. These effects are
brought about through Jesus Christ, who has become for us God-given wisdom, and
justice, and sanctification, and redemption. For since He is the power of God, the
wisdom of God, and the incarnate Word, full of grace and of truth, He made grace
and truth. He infuses into us the grace of charity which, since it springs up from a
pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned, rectifies the whole soul in the
threefold power of seeing mentioned above. He has taught the knowledge of truth in its
threefold theological sense,[13]
so that through symbolic
theology we may rightly use
intellectual things, and through mystical theology, we may be rapt to ecstatic
experiences.
8.
He,
therefore, who wishes to ascend to God must first avoid sin, which deforms nature.
He must
bring the natural powers of the soul under the influence of grace, which reforms them, and
this he does through prayer; under the influence of justice which purifies, and this, in
daily acts; under the way of knowledge which enlightens, and this, in meditation; and
finally, under the power of wisdom which perfects, and this in contemplation.[14]
For just as
no one arrives at wisdom except through grace, justice, and knowledge, so it is that no
one arrives at contemplation except through penetrating meditation, holy living, and
devout prayer. And since grace is the foundation of righteousness of the will, and of
penetrating enlightenment of reason, we must first of all pray; next, we must live holily;
then we must gaze at the spectacles of truth, and by gazing at them, rise step by step
until we reach the mountain height where the God of gods is seen on Sion.
9.
Now since
it is necessary to ascend before we can descend on Jacob's ladder, let us place our first
step in the ascent at the bottom, setting the whole visible world before us as a mirror
through which we may pass over to God, the Supreme Creative Artist. Thus we shall be as
true Hebrews passing over from Egypt to the land promised to the fathers; we shall be
Christians passing over with Christ from this world to the Father; we shall be lovers of
the Wisdom Who calls to us and says: Pass over to me all ye that desire me, and be
filled with my fruits. For by the greatness and the beauty of the creature, the Creator
them; may be seen so as to be known thereby.
10. The
supreme power, wisdom, and benevolence of the Creator shine forth in created things in so
far as the bodily senses inform the interior senses. This is done in a threefold way.[15]
For
the bodily senses serve the intellect when it investigates rationally, or believes
faithfully, or contemplates intellectually. He who contemplates considers the actual
existence of things; he who believes, the habitual course of things; he who investigates
with his reason, the potential excellence of things.
11. In the
first way of seeing, the observer considers things in themselves and sees in them weight,
number, and measure:[16]
weight in respect to the place towards which things
incline; number
by which things are distinguished; and measure by which things are determined.
Hence he
sees in them mode, species,[17]
and order, as well as
substance, power, and activity.
From all
these considerations the observer can rise, as from a vestige, to the knowledge of the
immense power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator.
12. In the
second way of seeing, the way of faith, the believer considers this world in its origin,
development, and end.[18]
For by faith we understand
that the world was fashioned by the
word of God; by faith we believe that the periods of the three laws of nature, of
the
Scriptures, and of grace followed one another and have flowed on in a most orderly way; by
faith we believe that the world must come to an end in the final judgment.
In the first of
these beliefs we consider the power of the highest Principle; in the second, His
Providence; and in the third, His Justice.
13. In the
third way of seeing, he who investigates with his reason sees that some things merely
exist, that others exist and live, that still others exist, live, and discern.
He also
sees that the first of these are the lesser ones, the second are intermediate, and the
third are the better. Likewise, he sees that some things are merely corporeal, while
others are partly corporeal and partly spiritual. From this observation he realizes that
others are wholly spiritual, better and of more dignity than the first two modes of being.
Moreover, he sees that some of these things are changeable and corruptible, such as
terrestrial things; others are changeable and incorruptible, as celestial things.
And from
this observation he realizes that some things are changeless and incorruptible, that is,
supercelestial things.
Therefore, from visible things the soul rises to the consideration of the power, wisdom,
and goodness of God, in so far as He is existing, living, intelligent, purely spiritual,
incorruptible, and immutable.
14. We may
extend this consideration to the sevenfold general properties of creatures,[19]
which bear a
sevenfold witness to the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, if we consider the origin,
greatness, multitude, beauty, plenitude, activity, and order of all things.
The origin of
things, according to their creation, distinction,[20]
and adornment[21]
as the work of the six
days, proclaims the power of God that produced all things out of nothing, the wisdom of
God that clearly differentiated all things, the goodness of God that lavishly adorned all
things. The greatness of things also - looking at their vast extension, latitude, and
profundity, at the immense power extending itself in the diffusion of light, and the
efficiency of their inner uninterrupted and diffusive operation, as manifest in the action
of fire - clearly portrays the immensity of the power, wisdom, and the goodness of the
Triune God, Who, uncircumscribed, exists in all things by His power, presence, and
essence.[22]
Likewise, the multitude
of things in their generic, specific, and individual
diversity of substance, form, of figure, and the efficiency which is beyond all human
estimation, manifestly suggests and shows the immensity of the three above-mentioned
attributes in God. The beauty of things, too, if we but consider the diversity of lights,
forms, and colors in elementary, inorganic, and organic bodies, as in heavenly bodies and
in minerals, in stones and metals, and in plants and animals, clearly proclaims these
three attributes of God. In so far as matter is full of forms because of the seminal
principles,[23]
and form is full of power
because of its active potentialities, while power is
capable of many effects because of its efficiency, the plenitude of things clearly
proclaims the same three attributes. In like manner, manifold activity, whether natural,
cultural, or moral, by its infinitely multiple variety, shows forth the immensity of that
power, art,[24]
and goodness, which is
for all things "the cause of being, the basis of
understanding, and the norm of orderly conduct." Finally, when we consider order in
reference to duration, position, and influence, that is, from the standpoint of prior and
posterior, superior and inferior, more noble ard more ignoble, it clearly points out,
first of all, in the book of creation, the primacy, sublimity, and dignity of the First
Principle, and thus the infinity of His power; secondly, in the book of Scriptures, the
order of divine laws, commands, and judgments, and thus the immensity of His wisdom; and
lastly, in the body of the Church, the order of the divine Sacraments, benefices, and
rewards, and thus the immensity of His goodness. So it is that order leads us to that
which is first and highest, most powerful, most wise, and best.
15. Therefore,
whoever is not enlightened by such great splendor in created things is blind, whoever
remains unheedful of such great outcries is deaf; whoever does not praise God in all these
effects is dumb; whoever does not turn to the First Principle after so many signs is a
fool. Open your eyes, therefore; alert the ears of your spirit, unlock your lips, and
apply your heart that you may see, hear, praise, love, and adore, magnify, and honor your
God in every creature, lest perchance, the entire universe rise against you.
For because
of this, the whole world shall fight against the universe. But on the contrary, it
will be a matter of glory for the wise, who can say with the prophet: For thou hast
given me, O Lord, a delight in thy doings, and in the work of thy hands I shall rejoice.
How great are thy works, O Lord! Thou hast made all things in wisdom, the earth is filled
with thy riches.
