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I found a most amazing passage from the writings of St Isaac of Syria,
in a little booklet entitled, "Daily Readings with St Isaac of Syria",
Introduced and edited by A. M. Allchin, Translated by Sebastian
Brock, Templegate Publishers, Springfield Illinois 1990
It reads, " Someone who has actually tasted truth is not
contentious for truth.
Someone who is considered among men to be zealous for truth has
not yet learned what truth is really like: once he has truly learnt it,
he will cease from zealousness on its behalf.
The gift from God and of knowledge of him is not a cause for turmoil
and clamour; rather this gift is entirely filled with a peace in
which the Spirit, love and humility reside.
The following is a sign of the coming of the Spirit; the person whom
the Spirit has overshadowed is made perfect in these very virtues.
God is reality. The person whose mind has become aware of God
does not even possess a tongue with which to speak, but God resides
in his heart in great serenity. He experiences no stirring of zeal
or argumentativeness, nor is he stirred by anger. He cannot even be
aroused concerning the faith." p.61 translated by Dr. Sebastian Brock.
Of course, reading something like this has to make one wonder, How
often do we state the truth with such passion even anger, as if Truth
which is Reality Itself, was so fragile it needed our protection? Or
even worse, what if all we are doing by affirming Truth (or our
misunderstanding of it as mere facts) is affirming our egos, our self-
image and asserting ourselves in dominance over those around us?
We do well if, before we speak or act, we pause for a moment and
make an honest assessment of our emotional and spiritual state.
We do even better if, more than anything else, we pursue a first-
hand personal experience of this Ultimate Reality, our Triune
God in a spirit of peace, humility and love.
This longing for the Truth must be first and foremost a longing for
the transformation of our own hearts, that the prayer of our Lord
Jesus Christ be fulfilled in us, when He prayed,
"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into
the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I
sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in
truth." John 17:17-19 NASB
Which means;
Sanctify them (Make them holy, preserve them in holiness, restore
them to spiritual health)
in the truth (in Me- "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Father but through Me" John 14:6; John 15:15,
"apart from Me you can do nothing".)
Your Word is truth ( "In the beginning was the Word and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God John 1:1. Again the
Lord is saying, "I am the Word of God and I am the Truth")
As you sent Me (the Word of the Father and the Truth) into
the world, I also have sent them into the world (we must
become, by Grace, the very Word of God to our generation, the
Truth of God to our generation, not merely as ideology but in our
very beings, we must become a healing presence to those who are
broken and ill with the sickness of sin!)
For their sakes I sanctify Myself (I offer Myself on the cross
for their healing and restoration )
that they themselves also be sanctified in truth (that they
themselves be made holy- be healed- in Me)
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