The numinous can be encountered anywhere.
On a clear, starry night it grips us, as it did Abraham, who looked out upon the endless expanse of the heavens and considered his place among them.
We hear it in an infant’s cry. Spellbound by the miracle of childbirth, we laugh with Sarah and touch, even for a moment, the face of joy.
We encounter it in dreams, as Jacob did, who witnessed the transit of angels between heaven and earth and laid stones in the very place the ladder touched the ground.
At other times it falls upon us violently, as on the slopes of Mount Sinai when the sun was darkened and the hills were enveloped in smoke. Lightning flashed like rattling sabers overhead as a voice broke forth from the cloud as full as a thousand silver trumpets. The people of Israel withdrew in fear while Moses, clutching his garments in trembling hands, humbly drew near to the LORD his God.
Whenever God draws near and we are utterly exposed as dust before His infinite gaze, we have experienced the numinous.
Yet I believe that the numinous is most clearly perceived in the gospel, the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. It is a story like no other; a narrative which encompasses all narrative and all experience.
In it we are confronted with the incarnation, the Numinous-One who took on flesh and bone and pitched His tent among the rabble.
Numinous is a site dedicated to exploring the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Here you will find posts and articles attempting to trace the thread of this grand-narrative as it weaves throughout the many aspects of human experience. Wherever the Spirit leads us, we will follow.
Welcome to Numinous Writ, dear reader.
