I posted a piece of a poem a few weeks ago that has spoken so deeply to me. As I think of this idea of reaching, I keep coming back to it again and again. You can read the first stanza here and the full poem here.
This ache for eternal beauty draws us forward, keeps us reaching beyond what we can see, beckons us from our present circumstances to a deeper understanding of our source of beauty, of life, of eternity.
It reminds me of something Paul said in his letter the the church a Phillipi.
"I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward..."
from Soul’s Eternal Rapture
by St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-395)
translated by Scott Cairns in Endless Life: Poems of the Mystics
And thus, at every point
she learns that each
new splendor is to be
eclipsed by what is to come--
the ever-exceeding
Beautiful that draws, and calls
and leads the beloved
to a beauty of her own.
from Soul’s Eternal Rapture
by St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-395)
translated by Scott Cairns in Endless Life: Poems of the Mystics
And thus, at every point
she learns that each
new splendor is to be
eclipsed by what is to come--
the ever-exceeding
Beautiful that draws, and calls
and leads the beloved
to a beauty of her own.
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The ache for eternal beauty... I really love thinking about this. How important beauty is to a spiritual life... how everything is beautiful in some way. As are you! xo
ReplyDeleteDon't you love how little bits of things just seem to speak to you - to reach out and grab our thoughts, to reach the inner parts of us and keep surfacing to keep bringing us back there in that thought. Soul's Eternal Rapture is one of those "things". I'd never read it before. Thanks for sharing this. Now I have it to keep in my brain, like a tune you can't stop humming - only way better!
ReplyDeleteThoughtful and beautiful, Doraine! You have managed to find and touch a nerve--that yen inside of us for what is right, beautiful, true and good. Your words and the poem snippet remind me of Steve Bell's "Why do we hunger for beauty?" You hear it here: https://youtu.be/cpnOmOyYxu0
ReplyDeleteOops, I think that song "Why do we hunger for beauty?" was written by Jim Croegaert, not Steve Bell, but sung by him in the link i posted.
ReplyDelete