O God
you must make your own human word,
for that's the only kind I can comprehend.
Don't tell me everything that you are.
Dont tell me of your infinity.
Just say that you love me,
just tell me of your goodness to me.
But don't say this in your divine langauge,
in which your love also means
your inexorable justice and your crushing power.
Say it rather on MY language,
so I won't have to be afraid
that the word 'love' hides some significance
other than your goodness and your gentle mercy.
Karl Rahner, Encounter with Silence.
And they say rahner is a complex, difficult to read theologian who uses obscure or sophisticated philosophical categories. maybe so. But this is the prayer of someone who knows the limits of language, the constraints on concepts, and the deficiencies of discourse when it comes to describing God, let alone addressing God – and when it comes to God addressing us, all language breaks down and we are presented with Personal Presence, the Word made flesh, God who has spooken in his Son.
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