In the Cloud of Unknowing

When you think of enlightenment, you often think of knowing, of certainty, of seeing. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness (Jn 12:45).

Jesus speaks of being light many times throughout the gospel. We think of light as knowing, for light reveals. But there is a certain amount of unknowing as well. Light can mean fire, and that does not necessarily mean knowing, but desire.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro writes belief is about knowing; faith is about not knowing. Belief is about content...faith is an attitude toward reality. I kinda like his thought. He goes on to say that faith is expressed in worship, and true worship strips you of your belief and wraps you in a cloud of unknowing.

According to Shapiro, faith is trusting in what is unfolding without knowing just what that is. That certainly takes desire.

I'm attracted to Shapiro's description of faith because of a book written in medieval times by a monk, a book well known among medieval scholars and mystics called The Cloud of Unknowing. It is a book describing the mystical experience to the ordinary reader, and was well read especially during its time. It describes mysticism as an exercise of the spirit, not of the intellect. And so, Shapiro's description of faith fits well with the author of this book's description of mysticism.

Would you be enlightened? Maybe you already are, but have confused enlightenment with knowledge. Maybe you are trusting in what is unfolding in your life, living in the cloud of unknowing.