Knowing God through His Word — Part 5
Thoughts from Fenelon on Knowing God through His Word.
People who know God talk with Him. Their on-going conversations are energized and infused by His Word.
Francois Fenelon, a 17th Century French priest, knew God and talked with Him more than most. Those of us who are seeking God today can learn from him. In part five of this series I’ve adapted a short essay he wrote to make it easier reading. You can find the original in Along the Royal Way, Hal M. Helms, ed., Paraclete Press, Orleans, MA, 1984. In this adaptation, partial quotations are mixed with summary and paraphrase.
According to Fenelon, a necessary foundation to prayer is meditation and thought on the great truths of God. . . . . We should be colored and penetrated by them as wool is by dye. They should be familiar and always before us, so that it becomes a habit to form every opinion and make every decision in their light. Then God’s truths become our only guide, as the rays of the sun are our light in natural vision.
When these truths become part of us and live within us, our praying becomes real and fruitful. Until then, our prayer is only a shadow; we may have thought that we had penetrated the inmost recesses of the Gospel, when, in truth, we had barely set our toe on the doorstep. If our prayers do not reflect the true nature of God, then all our tender and lively feelings, all our firmest resolutions, all our clearest and farthest views are, in reality, only a rough and shapeless mass from which He wants to hew His likeness in us.
Our meditations should become deeper and more interior every day. I say deeper, because by frequent and humble meditation upon God’s truth, we penetrate farther and farther in search of new treasures; and more interior, because as we seek more and more to enter into these truths, they penetrate into the very substance of our souls. Then a simple word will go farther than a whole sermon.
Our manner of meditating should not be subtle or composed of long reasoning; simple and natural thoughts that immediately rise in our mind from what we are meditating on are all that is needed. Just take a few truths, [a word, a phrase, or verse] and meditate upon it without hurry, without effort, and without seeking for far-fetched reflections.
Consider the practical bearing of every truth. To receive truth without using all means to put it faithfully into practice is to “hold the truth in unrighteousness.” (Romans 1:18) It is resistance to the truth impressed upon us, and of course, is resistance to the Holy Spirit. This is the most terrible of all unfaithfulness.
Thank you, Fenelon.
