...that you, rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
In this passage from his letter to the Ephesians Saint Paul alludes to the "strength" that is necessary to "comprehend... the breadth and length and height and depth...."
This comprehension is apparently not a matter of understanding simple facts like mathematics or geography. A two year old might not understand that two and two equal four, or that Canada is north of the United States; but they will certainly understand these simple abstractions very soon. But the Christian must grow in strength in order to comprehend a mystery that most human beings will never see, grasp, or even suspect, despite their powers of abstraction. Nor, for that matter, will they be interested!
But they will wonder, as they did about Jesus, "Where do you come from?" And, "Where are you going?"
We know where we come from: Jerusalem. We were sent by the Lord from Jerusalem to every nation in the world. Plus, we know where we're going, and we know the way. For He is the Way.
After we have apprehended these mysteries when the Lord speaks to us, we comprehend matters of the heart. We comprehend goodness even when it attracts no consumers and bores those who live only for entertainment. We appreciate truth and we know it when we hear it. And we're better at recognize untruths than most people, though we can be fooled for awhile. We know, "all that glitters is not gold."
As Pascal said,
'The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know. We feel it in a thousand things... It is the heart which experiences God, and not the reason. This, then, is faith: God felt by the heart, not by the reason."
It takes a certain kind of strength first to apprehend, and then to comprehend, that truth. It is a strength which is built by habitual sacrifice and proven by trials. No one knows how much strength they might have before the great trial begin, and we pray daily that we are not led "into temptation."
But we pray that we are ready when that day comes, and we prepare for it daily.
