Some people speak with a great deal of authority about what God is doing right now. I’m always amazed because I can never figure out God that quickly. I usually understand what God is doing by seeing it through the rearview mirror. Only then can I connect the dots, and even then, it’s a pretty dodgy sketch. Maybe that’s why the Bible described what we are often doing as looking through a mirror dimly. The Bible says that right now we only know “in part” and that one day, after we’ve gone, we’ll know “in full.” That makes more sense to me because it means our understanding will always have gaps and gaps are good because they leave room for God to fill in the spaces.
Understanding
Henri J.M. Nouwen
We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another. (…) There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the road once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might indeed become neighbors.
Gregory the Great
Whatsoever one would understand what he hears must hasten to put into practice what he has heard.
Peter of Damaskos
It is a great blessing from God that some parts of the Scriptures are clear while others are not. By means of the first we acquire faith and ardour and do not fall into disbelief and laziness because of our utter inability to grasp what is said. By means of the second we are roused to enquiry and effort, thus both strengthening our understanding and learning humility from the fact that everything is not intelligible to us.