HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div

And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. Exodus 34:29

Unconsciousness of goodness is always the main element in the highest forms of goodness: in the same way that unconsciousness is characteristic of the worst forms of depravity. “Samson wist not that the Lord had departed from him.”

Directly people become conscious of their superiority to others, and boast of it, it is certain that they have never really seen the beauty of God’s holiness, and have no clear knowledge of the condition of their own hearts. They see that they have been cleansed from their old sins, but they do not perceive that the spirit of selfishness has retreated into the springs of motive and intention.

We are all tempted by this terrible self-consciousness. We are proud of being humble, complacent for being lowly, self-congratulatory because we take back-seats. In all this, we betray the vanity of our pretensions. This sort of goodness is like a thin veneer of mahogany on the very common deal.

The real goodness is more conscious of the remaining evil than of the acquired good; of the lingering darkness than of the hilltops smitten with the dawn; of that which has not been attained. But we can only attain this blessed condition by intimate and prolonged, fellowship with God, in solitudes where human voices and interests cease to distract. The brightness of which Moses was unconscious was caught from the Presence chamber of the Divine Loveliness. Ah, what patterns are seen on the Mount! What cries are uttered there! What visions are seen there! What revelations are made there! What injunctions are received there! Oh for the closer access, the nearer view, the more intimate face to face intercourse, such as is open still to the friends of God!