I was out of new books to read (well, there’s always university stuff…) so I picked up an old book I’d read a few years ago, “The Knowledge of the Holy” by A.W. Tozer. I mainly read it when I’m sitting in the metro, going to university, or when we have a break in class and nobody has anything very interesting to say. What is interesting though, is that I don’t read at the same pace I would normally read. I am not a fast-reader (not in English, nor in French), but when I read this book, I always, on purpose, read really slowly. You wouldn’t want to hear me… or maybe you would. It is very different and it really feels as if the words penetrate my mind, as if I can savor them. It’s a time with God (because the book talks about what God is like, His attributes and etc.) in the middle of business. I’m always doing something, going here, going there, in class, studying, “homeworking”, talking, searching, working… it feels so sweet to stop and read slowly, like, really slowly this book. I feel at peace, in a holy place. I think it’s healthy for my mind and heart. It’s just taking the time to think about God, slowly.

You can read the following slowly, see for yourself…

“O Lord God Almighty, not the God of the philosophers and the wise but the God of the prophets and apostles; and better than all, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may I express Thee unblamed? They that know Thee not may call upon Thee as other than Thou art, and so worship not Thee but a creature of their own fancy; therefore enlighten our minds that we may know Thee as Thou art, so that we may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee.”

(A.W. Tozer)

“Lord, how great is our dilemma! In Thy Presence silence best becomes us, but love inflames our hearts and constrains us to speak. Were we to hold our peace the stones would cry out; yet if we speak, what shall we say? Teach us to know that we cannot know, for the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Let faith supports us where reason fails, and we shall think because we believe, not in order that we may believe.”

(A.W. Tozer)

“O Majesty unspeakable, my soul desires to behold Thee. I cry to Thee from the dust. Yet when I inquire after Thy name it is secret. Thou art hidden in the light which no man can approach unto. What Thou art cannot be thought or uttered, for Thy glory ineffable. Still, prophet and psalmist, apostle and saint have encouraged me to believe that I may in some measure know Thee. Therefore, I pray, whatever of Thyself Thou hast been pleased to disclosed, help me to search out as treasure more precious than rubies or the merchandise of fine gold: for with Thee shall I live when the stars of the twilight are no more and the heavens have vanished away and only Thou remainest.”

(A.W. Tozer)