the mystery of Him

i hate to reveal my shallow threads of habit, but once again, here's a quote i happened upon today from manning, one of the coolest old guys i know :) eventually i'll probably have posted his entire list of publications, one thought at a time. this is from the foreword to Abba's Child, before he even gets going...

certain truths can be spoken only from the well of exaggeration. in trying to describe the transcendent mystery of Abba's love, i employed a plethora of adjectives such as infinite, outlandish, mind-bending, ineffable, and incomprehensible. put them all together and they are still inadequate for one simple reason: mystery is spoiled by a word.

i love this quote. in all our expositions, our summaries of God's love, our recountings of His grace, countless creative retellings of His story of His pursuit of His creation and His children, the mystery of His extravagance is indeed spoiled by our words. there is beauty in the silence of awe and wonder.