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Why does God come in the whisper, in the darkness, through a wayward Middle Eastern nation, in the vulnerability of a Bethlehem baby, and the lonely groan of a crucified rabbi?

So that we will abandon all our preconceived notions of divinity, so that we will be left possessing nothing but our ignorance, so that we won't confuse God with cultural idols, so that we will be ready to meet the true God.

"Now God is beyond all that exists," writes Orthodox theologian Vladimir Loski. "In order to approach him, it is necessary to deny all that is inferior to him, that is to say, all that which is. If in seeing God one can know what one sees, then one has not seen God in himself but something intelligible, something which is inferior to him. It is by unknowing that one may know him who is above every possible object of knowledge."

Regularly retiring to the dark cave, to the fearful quiet of silent prayer and mediation, to listen to the whisper is the first step in breaking free from addiction to religious spectacle. It is the first step on the path to unknowing. I grew up reading bumper stickers that described conversion with the phrase, "I found it." This should be matched by another many miles down the spiritual road: "I lost it." That darkness opens up whole new vistas for us, and gives us the ears to hear the whisper.

Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today. He is the author of Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God (Baker). You can comment below or on his blog.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Philip Yancey looked at Elijah's solitude in "A Cure for Spiritual Deafness."

Previous SoulWork columns include:

A Hidden Treasure | There's a divine reason the church mirrors the culture. (September 7, 2007)

When a Blessing Is a Curse | Sometimes the most loving prayers are not all that nice. (August 23, 2007)

On Not Transforming the World | We have better and harder things to do than that. (August 9, 2007)

Grace—That's So Sick | The church seems to be an embarrassment to everyone except its Lord. (July 26, 2007)

We Are Not Pregnant | The glory of men and women lies in their unbridgeable differences. (July 12, 2007)

Seeker Unfriendly | We need more than worship that makes sense. (June 14, 2007)

The Cost of Christian Education | Getting schooled in the faith is more unnerving than I care to admit. (May 31, 2007)

Surviving a Family-Wrecking Economy | What the church can do about working mothers. (May 17, 2007)

The Real Secret of the Universe | Why we disdain feel-good spirituality but shouldn't. (May 3, 2007)

Peace in a World of Massacre | What Jesus calls us to when we're most frightened. (April 17, 2007)

The Good Friday Life | We need something more than another moral imperative. (April 4, 2007)

I Love, Therefore You Are | Why the modern search for self ends in despair. (June 28, 2007)

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September (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51