Who has known the mind of the Lord? ...For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:34,36.

'We cannot see light', wrote C S Lewis in The Four Loves, 'though by light we can see things. Statements about God are extrapolations from the knowledge of other things which the divine illumination enables us to know.'

The Eastern Orthodox tradition has always held that God in his essence is unknown; he is discerned through his works and words: 'God' is not a static noun but a dynamic verb. It's like trying to understand a train trip by studying the timetables: you have to take the journey to experience it.

Nicolas Berdyaev, the Russian philosopher, reminds us that theological doctrine is not necessary for faith, but that faith is necessary for theological doctrine. Believing is seeing.

According to Saint Paul, the God of the Bible is One who can make the things that are out of things that are not: he can make the dead come to life again. (As one of the ancients put it, God is a circle whose centre is everywhere, but whose circumference is nowhere). God is the sum of all possibilities.

May he whose 'glory flames from sun and star' be glorified in your life. Amen.