Knowing God Through Love and Purity

GRANT unto us, by Thy Spirit, Almighty God! that we, being stirred by true love to God and man, may win for ourselves the true light, whereby we may know that which is right, and that which is evil; and so, lifting ourselves constantly above ourselves, we may understand Thee through our love of that which is righteous and good.

Almighty God! make us wise to know how to know Thee; not by vain talk or ancient legend; not by buried thought or far-fetched dream; not by eager words or human science; but by the passionate desire for what is right, and lovely, and pure, and just, and noble. When this desire is active amongst men, lifting us ever higher and higher, then shall we know Thee more, and see Thee better.

We give Thee thanks, Almighty God! that as men have been raised into better living, the God they believe in has been by them raised into holier Being. For, Almighty God, how can Thy purity be well known to the impure? How can Thy lovingkindness be known to the unloving? To those who are vengeful, Thou must seem vengeful. To those who love evil, Thou must seem but a tyrant. But to the mother, bending over her little babe; to the man, willing to die for country or for friend; to the heart ever moved with a desire for good, whose pleasure it is to do good, to lessen pain, to increase knowledge, to brighten the world that is, and to make us hopeful of the Life hereafter,—to these, how Thou becomest Father, Lover, Shepherd, Friend, Lord, God, All in all!

Of ourselves we cannot know Thee; without ourselves we cannot know Thee; by what we are we cannot know Thee, except Thou teach us all better what we might be. If there be no rain, how shall there be cloud? If nought cometh from the skies, there will nought ascend from the earth. All is from Thee. So guide us, so let Thy love lighten upon us, that we, learning to love Thee, may know that Thou art Love. And as the little child grows to understand the sweetness of love, by having love shown to it, from what is done to it in lovingkindness; and learns of a higher love from the mother whose sweet face bends over it with loving care; so bend over us, that we, knowing Thy love, may learn love. For in Thy light we see light.

Alpha and Omega! Beginning and End! begin in us Thy love, that we from Thy love may learn love, and giving Thee love, bring down love again. Thus let the great wheel turn, the eternal circle go on; from God to man, and from man to God; that so, between us and Thee, there shall be no cloud, nor shadow, nor darkness, and the day may come, when in the perfect light of God, we may live, die, and live again.

Teach us that when we do what we know to be evil, we darken the face of God, by the clouds that go between us. Show us what we have lost by going astray; how we have wasted time that might have been spent in the beauty of righteousness, in weeping over fault and stain and sin. Show us what sights we have failed to see, because our poor eyes have been turned to lower things; what depth of beauty we have lost by going after false gods; what waste of light by seeking darkness. Now have mercy upon us. Make Thy Name glorious to us, and in us. Enlarge our hearts, and we shall run in the way of Thy commandments.

And we beseech Thee, Almighty God, deliver us from too much considering what others have found Thee to be. Rather may we find Thee to be large-hearted, bountiful, rejoicing in all, correcting all, loving all; that knowing Thee to be our Lover, we may be willing that Thou shouldst smite, strike, and wound us, rather than that we should go astray. Give us tears, that there may be cleansing; smart, that there may be healing; the stroke, that the blueness of the wound may bring back health to the soul. And Lord God! even if it be fire with Thee, that purging fire that cleanseth the soul, and maketh it strong like molten iron; if it must be so, then for us, the fire! If it may be so, let this cup pass from us; but let nothing pass from us that is needed to make our souls clean; that in the cleanness of our souls, we may see the brightness of Thy Spirit.

To this end make all things helpful; life, and pain, and sorrow, and misery; day and night; summer and winter; cold and heat; let all these things help us, for in helping us, they worship Thee. Let us join the great song of old:

“O ye fire and heat, O ye winter and summer, O ye dews and frosts, O ye frost and cold; praise ye the Lord!”

Let all things help us to render our thanksgiving unto Thee for Thy mercy.

Hear the prayers of those who ask Thy presence, whilst shut away from others. Teach them all that whether they are with the multitude or alone, God is there.

Hear us of Thy mercy. Make Thy face clear to us. Lead us in patience; correction, and mercy, through life and death, into the eternal peace. We ask it in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.—AMEN.