Part One The Incarnation

The Mystery of the Incarnation is that the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Son, took on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ without loss of his divinity. In other words, God came to live as one of us, to experience everything we did—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Perhaps this mystery is what makes finding God in all things even possible: we can find God in the here and now because God chose and (continues to choose) to dwell among us.

The mystics I present in this part have helped me understand that God continues to abide with us. They have helped me realize that “finding God in all things” simply means that God is present in the incarnate reality of the world. And I sincerely hope their stories will inspire you as they did me and that the practices will serve to help you find God in the world around us.

Origen of Alexandria c. 184–c. 253

The Scriptures were written by the Spirit of God, and have a meaning, not such only as is apparent at first sight, but also another, which escapes the notice of most. For those (words) which are written are the forms of certain mysteries and the images of divine things.

—Origen of Alexandria

The Big Bang theory is a cosmological model that explains how the universe began. About fourteen billion years ago, the universe—matter, energy, and time—formed a cosmic singularity. That singularity went through a period of rapid expansion: within 10-35 seconds (that’s way faster than you can imagine), it increased its size by a factor of 1050 (that’s way bigger than you can imagine). It was kind of like an explosion—hence the Big Bang.

Scripture gives us another cosmological model (well, two actually). According to those models, God created the universe and everything in it within a few days. Young Earth Creationists take this biblical account literally. According to their calculations, the universe is only six to ten thousand years old.

I am not a Young Earth Creationist. I do not read the Bible literally. That does not make me a heretic. Rather, I follow the advice of Origen of Alexandria, one of the Fathers of the early Church. Parts of Scripture are not to be understood in a literal sense—or to use his word, in a “historical” sense—because Scripture is meant to be understood spiritually. Scripture reveals “mystical economies” that cannot be understood by the literal meaning of words alone. Origen is someone we need to listen to. He was an intellectual giant whose lectures and writings influenced the development of Christian theology.

Origen’s “mystical economy ” asks us to look at the body, soul, and spirit of Scripture. “For as man is said to consist of body, soul, and spirit,” writes Origen in his work On the First Principles, “so also does sacred Scripture.”

The body of sacred Scripture is the literal meaning of the words themselves. These words provide our initial understanding of Scripture. However, Origen explains that “it was the design of the Holy Spirit . . . to show that we were not to be edified by the letter alone.” The spirit of Scripture is the search for the allegorical meaning of the words. It’s the meaning behind the meaning, which can be searched by one ’ s intellect. The soul of Scripture is the hidden meaning of the text that arises when the reader is detached from the literal or allegorical meaning. If the body is the meaning of the words themselves, and the spirit is the meaning behind the words, then the soul is the meaning of the Word without words.

Scripture is not like any other text. It reveals a hidden meaning—divine mysteries—where we can find God, and human language is incapable of that task.

Awareness and Practice

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

—John 1:14

To live the Mystery of the Incarnation, we must live the Mystery of Scripture. Just as the Son of God became human in every way but sin, God’s Word—which existed before time—was expressed using human language. You can live the mystery by engaging with the body, spirit, and soul of Scripture.

Read a short passage from Scripture, such as a reading from the Mass of the day or any passage of your choice. First, approach the body of the text. What is being said? Who is the intended audience? What do the words mean in the context they were written? A good commentary can help you understand the body of the text.

Then approach the spirit of the text. Meditate on what you read: What is the allegorical meaning of the words? (Again, a commentary can be helpful.) How does the text apply to you today?

Finally, approach the soul of the text. Let go of any and all words. Simply rest in the silence of the text and listen closely. How is the meaning revealed without words?