Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. (Gen 18,27)

When a person approaches God through theology (note, in this sense I am referring not only to university studies but also to ordinary teaching in the church where truths about God are heard), he learns about God's attributes through information he receives through reason. He then tries by faith to hold and apply what he has learned about God. Of course, it depends substantially on what theology he actually accepts. Its truths work in him first from the outside in (when he learns them), and then from the inside out (when he acts on them).

But Abraham knew no such way to know God. He had not attended any university or Bible class. Thus, the path for him was only from the inside out - his theology was not based on knowledge, it was not rooted in reason. It flowed from how he knew God as he perceived Him during his encounters with Him, and what he learned about Him through various life experiences as he followed Him. His theological method, then, would probably be called "enlightened intuition."

Therefore, we must remember that his expressions of faith are very spontaneous compared to people living in religious communities. He had no need to imitate spiritual leaders or to conform to what was positively evaluated by those around him (for example, in his church). When Abraham refers to himself as "dust and ashes" to God, it means that he truly saw himself that way before Him. It may sound a bit like gloomy humility in order to appeal to emotions. But Abraham didn't have to resort to something like that - he didn't do it in front of people.

Especially today, when almost everyone is dealing with the question of self-worth - who would want to be seen as "dust"? But beware: and honestly believe it?

Through personal revelation, Abraham recognized God's glory and with it his own nothingness. These two things - knowing God and truly knowing oneself - always go hand in hand. But what is strange about this is that, unlike when we are judged or humiliated by other people, the true revelation of oneself that one sees before God, strangely enough, does not crush him but, on the contrary, liberates him in an unprecedented way. From that moment on, he does not have to prove anything else to himself.