I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.'
Exodus 3

Mystery, presence and a person

Here is a definition of the Almighty given to Melvyn Bragg by Rowan Williams in an interview. It is recounted by Rupert Shortt in Rowan's Rule, a biography. It's been like a distant thunderclap to me for some years, in the background but also somehow a close vibration. It bears, I think, some slow and open reading...

"God is first and foremost that depth around all things and beyond all things into which, when I pray, I try to sink. But God is also the activity that comes to me out of that depth, tells me I'm loved, that opens up a future for me, that offers transformations I can't imagine. Very much a mystery but also very much a presence. Very much a person. "