Radically Happy

Write as St. Gregory Palamas to a novice, using this “[gloss]” on Revelation 3:12

ChatGPT Prompt

“I will write on you the name of my God [love], and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem [peace]… And I’ll write my own name [joy] on you.”

The Names That Deify

You ask, dear novice, how the human soul may come to share not only in God’s gifts, but in God’s own life. Hear then the Lord’s promise: to the one who overcomes, He shall write three names—not mere labels, but living energies that unite us to the divine nature.

Each name corresponds to a Person of the Holy Trinity, drawing the soul into Trinitarian Theosis—a loving indwelling, not an abstract ascent.

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1. The Name of the Father — Love

“I will write on you the name of my God…”

The Father, the unbegotten Source of all, writes His own name upon the soul, sealing it with the energy of divine love.

To receive this name is to:

• Be adopted into the eternal love that begets the Son
• Become beloved, not by merit, but by grace
• Participate in the outflowing agapē of the Father’s nature (1 John 4:8)

“The name of the Father makes you a being of love, like unto Him.”

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2. The Name of the Spirit — Peace

“…and the name of the city of my God—the New Jerusalem…”

This “city” is no geographical domain but the dwelling place of God with humanity, established by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit builds the soul into a living temple.

To receive this name is to:

• Become a habitation of divine peace, the shalom of heaven
• Be interiorly still—hesychia—so God may rest in you
• Be drawn into the order and harmony of the divine household (Ephesians 2:22)

“The name of the Spirit makes you a temple of peace, indwelt by divine presence.”

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3. The Name of the Son — Joy and Glory

“…and I will write my own new name on you.”

Jesus Christ, risen and glorified, bears a new name (Revelation 19:12)—the name of redeemed humanity, transfigured and enthroned.

To receive this name is to:

• Be glorified with Christ, conformed to His resurrected body (John 17:22)
• Bear His unshakable joy (John 15:11)
• Radiate His uncreated light, not as idea, but as lived reality

“The name of the Son makes you joyful and luminous, a participant in His victory.”

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Trinitarian Theosis as Divine Invitation

Each divine Person writes His name—not only upon the soul, but into the soul, making us participants in His own life:

• The Father: Love — rooted in agapē
• The Holy Spirit: Peace — temples of stillness
• The Son: Joy — radiant with resurrection (Hebrews 12:2)

This is the mystery of theosis: not an ascent toward a distant God, but an indwelling invitation from a God who draws near.

“We will come to them and make Our home with them.” — John 14:23

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Appendices

A. Who Was Gregory Palamas?

St. Gregory Palamas (1296–1359) was a monk of Mount Athos, later Archbishop of Thessalonica, and the chief theological defender of hesychasm. He taught that while God’s essence is beyond knowing, God’s energies—love, peace, joy, light—are freely shared with the faithful.

Palamas upheld that theosis is not metaphorical but mystical: we truly become partakers of divine life, primarily through contemplative prayer and union with the uncreated energies of God.

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B. What Is Hesychasm?

Hesychasm (from Greek hesychia, meaning “stillness” or “silence”) is a Christian spiritual tradition rooted in:

• Interior stillness: the quieting of thoughts and passions
• Ceaseless prayer: especially the Jesus Prayer — “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me”
• Vision of divine light: a real encounter with the uncreated light of God, as at the Transfiguration

Hesychasm is not escape from the world, but interior consecration—preparing the soul to receive God’s names not as metaphor, but as mystical transformation.

“Be still and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10