September 3

God is unfathomable to the human mind. We know only that he exists, and, whether we want to or not, we know this for certain.

1

I used to look at the phenomena of life without thinking about where these phenomena come from and why I see them.

But, as I began to think about the primary cause of everything, I had become convinced that the source of everything is the light of reason, and I got so carried away by this thought that I reduced everything down to a single thing and was completely satisfied with recognizing reason as the sole source of everything.

But then I saw that reason is a light that passes through a kind of frosted glass before it reaches me. I see the light, but I do not know what is giving off the light, even though I know that it exists.

The source of the light that is illuminating me, which I do not know but which I know for certain to exist, is what God is.

2

Do not try to penetrate into the essence of divine nature: it is blasphemous to want to understand that which God has not revealed.

— Menander

3

Believe in God, serve him, but do not try to understand his essence; your futile efforts will only make you tired and disappointed.

Do not even worry about finding out whether or not he exists, serve him as though he exists and is present everywhere. Nothing else is needed.

— Philemon

4

No one has yet been able to penetrate the mystery of the Great Source. No one has taken a step beyond themselves. O You, in search of whom the whole world is in turmoil! Be they saints or sinners, rich or poor, all are equally far from reaching You; Your name resounds with everyone’s existence, but all are deaf; You are before everyone’s eyes, but all are blind.

— Omar Khayyam

5

We perceive God’s existence not so much by reason, but by the consciousness of our complete dependence on him, the feeling of which is akin to what a baby experiences in the arms of its mother.

The baby does not know who holds it, warms it and feeds it, but it knows that this someone exists, and moreover, it loves the one in whose power it is.

6

The human being aspires to become akin to God; the priests have made God akin to man, and human light-mindedness was satisfied with this conception of God.

— d’Agoult

Do not worry that the idea of God is not expressed clearly to you. The clearer it is expressed, the further away it is from the truth and the less reliable it is for you as a means of support.