Clergyman's

“Here the reason”

— no less than all separate acts Must give way, For our powers become simple in Love; They are silent And In the most secret part of the understanding, the simple eye is ever open. It contemplates and gazes at the Light with a pure sight that is lit by the Light itself: eye to eye, mirror to mirror, image to image.The sight of the simple eye is a living mirror bowed down in the Presence of the Father. And this revelation of the Father Lifts the soul above the reason Into the Imageless Nudity. There the soul is simple, pure, spotless, Empty of all things; And it is in this state of perfect emptiness That the Father manifests His Divine radiance. To this radiance neither reason nor sense, Observation nor distinction, Can attain. All this must stay below; For the measureless radiance Blinds the eyes of the reason, They cannot bear the Incomprehensible Light. But above the reason, In the most secret part of the understanding, The simple eye is ever open. It contemplates and gazes at the Light With a pure sight that is lit by the Light itself: Eye to eye, Mirror to mirror, Image to image. This threefold act makes us like God, And unites us to Him; For the sight of the simple eye is a living mirror, Which God has made for His image, And whereon He has impressed it.- John Ruysbroeck