I recently wrote an article for my church magazine, which just came out, and thought I would also post it here to share with everyone. Thank you for being here, dear reader.
Where ever-present joy knows
naught of time.
- Paradiso, Dante
Paradiso is a long, poetical allegory of paradise written by Dante, completed in 1320. In this, the last of the books of The Divine Comedy (Dante has already been through hell and purgatory), we travel along with Dante as he and his beloved Beatrice travel from sphere to sphere through the realm of the moon, planets, and sun (ie. the seven heavens via the medieval cosmos model). They move closer and closer to God, to paradise. As they move outward through the spheres, are they moving away from the center? If we view it from our earthly perspective, it looks outward, and yet we find that all along as they move through the spheres toward paradise, they are drawing closer to the true center, that is, Christ. It is the paradox of the heavenly kingdom. Could moving outward from ourselves, through the difficult spheres of life cause us to, at the same time, draw nearer to the true center?
Perhaps the Love that moves the spheres moves us as well, in ways we would not be able to imagine ourselves. We ponder this as we study Jesus’s teaching from the beatitudes. Paradoxical in nature, Jesus calls us to turn our perspective over on our heads to think differently about mourning, being poor in spirit, being reviled for our faith, meekness, mercy, purity, hunger, and humility.
naught of time.
- Paradiso, Dante
Paradiso is a long, poetical allegory of paradise written by Dante, completed in 1320. In this, the last of the books of The Divine Comedy (Dante has already been through hell and purgatory), we travel along with Dante as he and his beloved Beatrice travel from sphere to sphere through the realm of the moon, planets, and sun (ie. the seven heavens via the medieval cosmos model). They move closer and closer to God, to paradise. As they move outward through the spheres, are they moving away from the center? If we view it from our earthly perspective, it looks outward, and yet we find that all along as they move through the spheres toward paradise, they are drawing closer to the true center, that is, Christ. It is the paradox of the heavenly kingdom. Could moving outward from ourselves, through the difficult spheres of life cause us to, at the same time, draw nearer to the true center?
Perhaps the Love that moves the spheres moves us as well, in ways we would not be able to imagine ourselves. We ponder this as we study Jesus’s teaching from the beatitudes. Paradoxical in nature, Jesus calls us to turn our perspective over on our heads to think differently about mourning, being poor in spirit, being reviled for our faith, meekness, mercy, purity, hunger, and humility.
Could it be that as we move
through such various experiences of life we might normally view as a negative (a
downward conical shape into hell), they become the opposite - a positive shape
of heaven like a mountain top? Gaining eternal perspective, we see the true
value of maintaining a spirit that is fully dependent on the love of God.
Follow the teachings of Jesus and the mystery of love as it melds into the eternal. We are limited in our place and time to fully understand this brush with the eternal, but we can look at Jesus, who was both human and divine. In Jesus we can see the elements of humanity - mourning, suffering, being persecuted, hungering, and being tempted. Through these human experiences Jesus endured, we can trust Him and know that He goes before us, and also with us as our companion. Dante had Virgil along his journey. We have Jesus.
These mysteries of God are revealing pieces of the heavenly kingdom when we follow and do what Jesus teaches. When we live ‘in-other one another’, we live in coherence of the Trinity. When we are salt and light, we are cracking open the door for a little glimpse of the heavenly kingdom. When our hearts and minds are dwelling on the goodness we can do here and now, we are letting Christ’s love dance among the tasks we do.
Their measure done of dance and melody,
The sacred fires again gave heed to us,
Turning from task to task with right good glee.
-Paradiso, Dante
It takes a harmonious dance amongst the participants of love to make the spheres go round. Captured in the rings is love and light, and each sphere is drawn to the center by those things. Each task at hand is part of the circle and a piece of the divine. Each task is to be turned with a right good glee. We don't always smile at tasks or take them on with glee. But each good thing we do for God, for others, and for ourselves is part of the heavenly realm that has already begun here, started by Christ. Could this be what Jesus is saying in His teachings?
This mingling of the eternal that Jesus teaches, in my imagination, helps me see the glimpses of the heavenly realm in the here and now. Some days we feel upside down and can hardly make sense of the world full of evil, pain, and suffering. Each day goes against our practicality in many ways and facing it with the so-called practical sense is like facing a giant with a pea. We need to go beyond the practical, and sometimes look at the world while standing on our heads, which perhaps is the right way to see, as if for the first time.
Follow the teachings of Jesus and the mystery of love as it melds into the eternal. We are limited in our place and time to fully understand this brush with the eternal, but we can look at Jesus, who was both human and divine. In Jesus we can see the elements of humanity - mourning, suffering, being persecuted, hungering, and being tempted. Through these human experiences Jesus endured, we can trust Him and know that He goes before us, and also with us as our companion. Dante had Virgil along his journey. We have Jesus.
These mysteries of God are revealing pieces of the heavenly kingdom when we follow and do what Jesus teaches. When we live ‘in-other one another’, we live in coherence of the Trinity. When we are salt and light, we are cracking open the door for a little glimpse of the heavenly kingdom. When our hearts and minds are dwelling on the goodness we can do here and now, we are letting Christ’s love dance among the tasks we do.
Their measure done of dance and melody,
The sacred fires again gave heed to us,
Turning from task to task with right good glee.
-Paradiso, Dante
It takes a harmonious dance amongst the participants of love to make the spheres go round. Captured in the rings is love and light, and each sphere is drawn to the center by those things. Each task at hand is part of the circle and a piece of the divine. Each task is to be turned with a right good glee. We don't always smile at tasks or take them on with glee. But each good thing we do for God, for others, and for ourselves is part of the heavenly realm that has already begun here, started by Christ. Could this be what Jesus is saying in His teachings?
This mingling of the eternal that Jesus teaches, in my imagination, helps me see the glimpses of the heavenly realm in the here and now. Some days we feel upside down and can hardly make sense of the world full of evil, pain, and suffering. Each day goes against our practicality in many ways and facing it with the so-called practical sense is like facing a giant with a pea. We need to go beyond the practical, and sometimes look at the world while standing on our heads, which perhaps is the right way to see, as if for the first time.
The journey to God, is the journey
into reality.
-Dorothy L. Sayers
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