The “Presence” of a Master

Regarding your question about finding a spiritual master, I would caution you to be careful about placing quite the emphasis you have on “presence”. Of course, you certainly have a right to expect that a genuine shaykh or murshid will display all the...

Behind Yourself

You speak of occasionally having the sense that something within you, which is “more than you”, is always praying, even in the moments when you are feeling the most distracted and spiritually indolent; and when you have this experience, you say, it’s...

Not the Liturgy’s Fault

I believe you’d be wise to get some distance on your emotions. We’re to have cool heads and warm hearts, not hot heads and cold hearts. Not that you’re very close to running the latter risk—your evident compassion seems proof against a low...

Doctrinal Truth and Avataric Presence

Metaphysically, there is clearly no incompatibility between the divine unicity of God, on the one hand, as this is expressed in the Islamic shahadah, and the divinity of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, as this is expressed in the Nicene Creed. The Christian is not...

My Love Has Been Crucified

The passage you cite from Ignatius of Antioch—”My love has been crucified” (Letter to the Romans)—is profound indeed. The saint seems to be punning on eros. He means (among other things no doubt) that insofar as the object of his love, Jesus...