Copyright: © 2000 Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. This document may be freely reproduced for non-commercial purposes with credit and mention of the Lift Up Your Hearts web site http://www.worship.ca/ as the source.

Pneuma is a journal on spiritual direction and formation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

Way 1
We cannot speak of God without having first achieved an interior silence.

"When you wish to pray, go into the deepest and most silent part of your house." Gospel

Way 2
Speaking about God is a discourse that is sui generis.

"You will not take the name of God in vain." Exodus.

Way 3
Discourse about God is a discourse of our entire being.

"God is not a respecter of persons." Saint Peter

Way 4
It is not a discourse about any church, religion, or science.

"God is the all."

Way 5
It is a discourse that always takes place by means of a belief.

Way 6
It is a discourse about a symbol, not about a concept.

"No one has ever seen God." Saint John.

Way 7
Speaking about God is, by necessity, a polysemic discourse.

"God is larger than our heart." Saint John's Epistles.

Way 8
God is not the only symbol to indicate what the word "God" wishes to transmit.

"God is infinite and immense."

Way 9
It is a discourse that inevitably completes itself again in a new silence.

"Be silent and know that I am God." The Psalms.