Being clothed with God's attributes

The process of being clothed with God's attributes achieves its goal when the realization dawns that it is God himself who is at work in all our exercises. In that light putting on the armor of God means letting ourselves be girded by chastity; allowing ourselves to be consecrated down to the very roots of our thinking; it means hospitable admitting love into our life; becoming deeply persuaded that we are lovable "for nothing"; letting ourselves be sustained by confidence; awakening in the wide-open spaces of salvation; letting ourselves be totally leavened by the Word. This phase in our transformation calls for a diligence and painstaking care of its own. Sensitivity exerts itself in wonder. The eagerness of love is restless like the bride in the Song of Songs but simultaneously tactful like Tobias. The zeal of the prophet Elijah is palpably present but also the total freedom from care felt by the weaned child on its mother's back (Psalm 131). This understanding is inquisitive like a child and clairvoyant like Daniel.

The mystical movement in transformation breaks through when, outside of ourselves, we are led into the interior of God's own armor. We are purified in the Source of chastity itself. Unforgettable! For a moment we are wrapped up in God's boundless thoughts, unhindered by any prejudice, seeing ways to go where we imagined the end to be. Incomparable! For just one breath we entered into the divine saving love. The fire reached the core of the wood; now it is in the fire. Incomprehensible! Here we find security in the dark but this darkness is light enough for us. Here for only an instant. But it goes on forever! Here we are born in the moment of God's speaking to us. Just one word but that one word is our name. Indelible! Painstaking care and diligence have melted into the zeal of love. we have been made zealous by God's own zeal, the zeal of the divine love. Indeed: You are a love-zealous God in whom, in complete stillness, without any effort of our own, we abandon ourselves; in whose flames we are consumed, no longer seeking any voice apart from You, the fire of love in whom our illusions are burnt away; here we are all there, in quiet attentiveness, for You, You who will to be there for us.

Kees Waaijman