towards a panentheism.

I used to think that the sunset was something distinct from God’s glory. I thought it was merely a symbol, or a representation, or some likeness of it, but something distinct from it. Consequently, I thought that the glorious sunset was at best a device that pointed to something beyond it—that it was merely an instrument—and that we were supposed to behold something other than it.

But now I think that the sunset is the glory of God, or at least a manifestation of it.

“What’s the difference between a manifestation and a representation?”

It’s this:

The ring on the beloved’s finger represents the lover’s love. It points to it, but it is not the love itself. But the way in which the lover may kiss his beloved is a manifestation of his love. Unlike the representation, the manifestation cannot be separated from what it is a manifestation of. And this is why the former she can live without, the latter she cannot.

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“... the whole earth is full of His Glory.” (Isaiah 6:3)