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New Studies
abysses
I was first caught by this
concept, "abysses", while I was reading Leanne Payne's Restoring the
Christian Soul. She wrote about the abyss of nonbeingthe root cause of
all existential anxiety, that ever-feared and ever-present spectre of the
possibility of the complete and utter negation of the human soul. Then I
began to notice the use of the same word in the writings of other authors.
From ancient days, through the middle ages to the present, counselors and
sages have been using this concept: the image of the chasmic voidthe
infinitely deep and wide abyss to describe spiritual and psychological
realities. Even in the beginning, or infinitely close to the beginning (the second sentence of the book of Genesis), we find that the earth was "without form and void" with "darkness over the surface of the deep". The image is one of a sort of cosmic emptiness and infinite deepness that cries out for infilling, organization, illumination. Then God responds to this great void by filling it with light, creation-wide light (some think) and then, soon after (maybe after an infinitely short epoch of time) by creating another gulf-the separation of light from darkness: another abyss. Could it be that such chasmic voids, spiritual and psychological, cosmic and relational, are inherent to the nature of creation? and could it be that, in order to infill or span such voids, it may be necessary to face still others, remedial and healing, paradoxical and confounding? I believe we find ourselves in a universe of abysses. If we look towards heaven or earth, if we ponder our relationships with other people or our own deep heart, if we face the incongruency of reality without turning away we find abysses-and miraculous abysses of infinite abysses.
© Joseph Perry, Greyfort Publishing
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Spirit of Prayer Homepage about the Spirit of Prayer New Hardcover Edition of Thomas Traherne's Centuries of Meditations: ![]() Old Studies: The Spirit of Prayer William Law The Soul of Prayer P.T. Forsythe Centuries of Meditations Thomas Traherne Spirit of Prayer James Buchanan New Studies God Squanders His Love The Prayer of Paul Stephen Mansfield The Armor of God a Friend Quotes About Prayer Karyn Henley Poem: Nick Kalfas A Father's Thoughts Steve Compton John Donne Page by the webmaster abysses by the webmaster Weblogs: Open Source Love Love Life Word Work Other Sites: Spirit of Love Prayers for Special Help Running Empty Grain of Wheat The Weavers Web Site Fellowship in Missions And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first-born. Zechariah 12:9-11 What we offer is drawn from us by what He offers. Our self-oblation stands on His; and the spirit of prayer flows from the gift of the Holy Ghost, the great Intercessor.
Peter Taylor Forsyth
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