Revelations of Divine Love · 71 of 127 · tr. Grace Warrack
Chapter LIc
I assented willingly, with great desire, and inwardly [beheld] with heedfulness all the points and properties that were shewed in the same time, as far forth as my wits and understanding would serve: beginning my beholding at the Lord and at the Servant, and the manner of sitting of the Lord, and the place that he sat on, and the colour of his clothing and the manner of shape, and his countenance without, and his nobleness and his goodness within; at the manner of standing of the Servant, and the place where, and how; at his manner of clothing, the colour and the shape; at his outward having and at his inward goodness and his unloathfulness.
The Lord that sat stately in rest and in peace, I understood that He is God.
The Servant that stood afore the Lord, I understood that it was shewed for Adam: that is to say, one man was shewed, that time, and his falling, to make it thereby understood how God beholdeth All-Man and his falling.
For in the sight of God all man is one man, and one man is all man.
This man was hurt in his might and made full feeble; and he was stunned in his understanding so that he [was] turned from the beholding of his Lord.
But his will was kept whole in God's sight;—for his will I saw our Lord commend and approve.
But himself was letted and blinded from the knowing of this will; and this is to him great sorrow and grievous distress: for neither doth he see clearly his loving Lord, which is to him full meek and mild, nor doth he see truly what himself is in the sight of his loving Lord.
And well I wot when these two are wisely and truly seen, we shall get rest and peace here in part, and the fulness of the bliss of Heaven, by His plenteous grace.
And this was a beginning of teaching which I saw in the same time, whereby I might come to know in what manner He beholdeth us in our sin.
And then I saw that only Pain blameth and punisheth, and our courteous Lord comforteth and sorroweth; and ever He is to the soul in glad Cheer, loving, and longing to bring us to His bliss.
The place that the Lord sat on was simple, on the earth, barren and desert, alone in wilderness; his clothing was ample and full seemly, as falleth to a Lord; the colour of his cloth was blue as azure, most sad and fair, his cheer was merciful; the colour of his face was fair-brown,—with full seemly features; his eyes were black, most fair and seemly, shewing [ outward ] full of lovely pity , and [shewing], within him, an high Regard, long and broad, all full of endless heavens.
And the lovely looking wherewith He looked upon His Servant continually,—and especially in his falling,—methought it might melt our hearts for love and burst them in two for joy.
The fair looking shewed [itself] of a seemly mingledness which was marvellous to behold: the one [part] was Ruth and Pity, the other was Joy and Bliss.
The Joy and Bliss passeth as far Ruth and Pity as Heaven is above earth: the Pity was earthly and the Bliss was heavenly: the Ruth and Pity of the Father was [in regard] of the falling of Adam, which is His most loved creature; the Joy and Bliss was [in regard] of His dearworthy Son, which is even with the Father.
The Merciful Beholding of His Countenance of love fulfilled all earth and descended down with Adam into hell, with which continuant pity Adam was kept from endless death.
A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.
The author describes a vision involving specific imagery (Lord and Servant, colors, postures) which she 'beheld' and analyzed, fitting the definition of meditation using symbolic thought rather than empty stillness.
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The text provides a detailed visual description of God with human features, including sitting posture, clothing color (blue azure), facial features (fair-brown), and eyes (black), attributing human form to the divine.
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
The text asserts that God actively 'beholdeth All-Man' and that His 'continuant pity' keeps Adam from endless death, indicating a divine ordering of human affairs toward salvation.
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
The text describes the fallen state as being 'hurt in his might,' 'feeble,' and 'blinded,' framing sin as a lack of power and knowledge rather than a positive ontological force.
The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.
God is depicted as an active, responsive personal reality who 'comforteth and sorroweth,' looks with 'lovely pity,' and actively longs to bring souls to bliss.
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
The passage describes Adam as 'stunned in his understanding' and 'turned from the beholding of his Lord,' representing the affective wound of exile and ignorance that drives the desire for return.