"The Orthodox tradition has upheld and preserved an important aspect of the Christian message, which somehow got lost in a lot of the theological tradition of Western Christianity. This is the theme of 'theosis,' translated as 'deification,' or 'divinization,' as the ultimate destiny of the human being. God became human so that humans may become God. That infinite, boundless mystery that we refer to as God, which is beyond everything in this created universe yet is also that which is the ground of this created universe, has now willingly assumed this bodily being of ours, this flesh, this earth. And in doing so, through this event that is called the Incarnation, literally, "becoming flesh," we are able to open our eyes to our true and ultimate destiny, that is, to come back to our home at the heart of that Infinite Mystery, in that boundless and infinite and pure 'to be.'
"Let us take this message in all simplicity and allow it to sink in as we sit in stillness. Western Christianity has become preoccupied with human fallenness, on the doctrine of 'original sin,' and that has served to sidetrack this important message of our ultimate destiny as emphasized in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Let us just take this invitation to come back, and hear the words again. Be still, and know . . . I AM. "And in the very resonance of that, through each and every participant of that 'I Am' in the universe, we see how our ultimate destiny is to sing the glories of that I AM, vast and boundless, and never-ending. Indeed, Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God."
