The Inward Odyssey

Share this post

Illumined by God

www.jonathanrbailey.com

Discover more from The Inward Odyssey

Brief posts that trace spiritual formation in the Christian tradition with a focus on the inner transformation that happens along the Threefold Way. Sent Fridays.
Continue reading
Sign in
The Threefold Way

Illumined by God

Do not fight to expel the darkness from the chamber of your soul. Instead open a tiny aperture for light to enter and the darkness will disappear. —Saint Porphyrios

Jonathan R. Bailey
Nov 21, 2022
1
Share this post

Illumined by God

www.jonathanrbailey.com
Share

Behind a picture frame in my office, next to the Trinity icon by Russian painter Andrei Rublev, sits a domed paperweight made of pure glass.

Sometimes a sunbeam will strike it just right and a tiny rainbow will sparkle on the wall. Physicists explain that when a ray of light enters a translucent stone, it bends or refracts, revealing the colors of the visible spectrum.

You may have seen something similar, a suncatcher, perhaps?

It’s a small reflective crystal hung near a window to “catch” sunlight. They’re enchanting little ornaments. Not only do they dazzle when filled with light, but beautiful multi-colored circles and semicircles create a kaleidoscopic environment of movement and energy.

Maybe Basil the Great had something like this in mind when he wrote nearly 1,700 years ago:

“When a sunbeam falls on a transparent substance, the substance itself becomes brilliant, and radiates light from itself. So too Spirit-bearing souls, illumined by God, finally become spiritual themselves…becoming like Him.”

We all begin the Threefold Way as dark translucent stones, lacking something essential—something we can only receive from without—we need the divine light of the Trinity to pierce and permeate our souls.

This is what happens in the Illuminative way.

An aperture is opened within us, divine light thrusts away the darkness and begins to fill the inward corners of our soul—making us inwardly brilliant and outwardly radiant—making us like God.


Thanks for reading The Inward Odyssey from Jonathan R. Bailey. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

1
Share this post

Illumined by God

www.jonathanrbailey.com
Share
Next
Comments
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Jonathan R. Bailey
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing