Tuesday, August 1, 2017: (From Richard Rohr, “The Divine Dance”)
The Father is Being itself, the Source of the flow, the Creator—the formless One out of which all form comes. God as “nothingness,” unspeakable Mystery. 210 In our contemplative heritage, God the Father is normally experienced best in silence, beyond words or pronunciation, which is exactly what the Jewish people insisted upon. 211 This preserves our humility before God so we don’t think that any word will ever comprehend the divine incomprehensibility. 212 In the long tradition of Christian mysticism, there were two great strains of knowing that were both needed to keep the believer balanced, humble, and open. The first way of knowing, which was more commonly practiced, was called the kataphatic (seen according to light) or the “positive” way—relying on defined words, clear concepts, pictures, and rituals. Christ as Logos , image, and manifestation embodies this kataphatic , or via positiva , pole. And when religion is healthy, happy, and mystical, the way of light needs to be balanced by the apophatic (against the light) or “negative” way of darkness—knowing beyond words and images through silence, darkness, open space, and releasing the need to know. This via negativa is represented by the Ground of Being, or “Father.”