The Division of the Waters (conclusion)
The Division of the Waters (Part 5 and last)
(This is excerpted from my The Everlasting Detective - a collection of unpublished essays)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
The thirst of Christ
This is in some way a postscript. I have addressed the strange human sensation known as thirst in passing. But there is a unity which I think needs to be mentioned here, one which explains that fearsome cry of Christ on the cross: "I thirst."[Jn 19:28, referring to Ps 22:15] But to explain this, I must first describe something else which is well known but never really seen.
"I raised my eyes, and at the next moment shut them, as at a blow. high in the empty air blazed and streamed a great fire, which burnt and blinded me every time I raised my eyes to it. I have lived many years now under this meteor of a fixed Apocalypse, but I have never survived the feelings of that moment. Men eat and drink, buy and sell, marry, are given in marriage, and all the time there is something in the sky at which they cannot look. They must be very brave."
["A Crazy Tale" CW14:70]
The sun - a great sphere of fusing hydrogen, hanging in the vacuum of outer space, sending forth immense amounts of energy. The sun is a nuclear furnace set aflame in that utter cold. How strange to think that space feels so terribly cold to the sun! And so Christ, who is that promised fountain of living water, was athirst: On the last day and greatest day of the festival [the feast of Tabernacles], Jesus stood there and cried out: "If any man is thirsty, let him come to me! Let the man come and drink who believes in me!" As scripture says, from his breast shall flow fountains of living water.[Jn 7:37-38]
Christ is the Sun of Justice; He is also the Fountain of Living Water, as He Himself said:
If you only knew what God is offering and Who it is that is saying to you: Give Me a drink, you would have been the one to ask, and He would have given you living water. ... Whoever drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again.[Jn 4:10,14]
posted by Dr. Thursday @ 8/02/2005 03:55:00 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
The constant White Rays
That emit from the Son
Are the Blaze of Love
That does not blind
And a fire that
Does not burn.
Wow, now this is REAL poetry - even though it does not rhyme!
It is very beautiful...
Thanks, "anonymous"!
Thank you. It is from something I wrote a long time ago- late seventies or so- that I no longer remember in its entirety- I called it "Awakening to the Risen Son", but it wasn't a poem- it was more of an essay (I liked Emerson in high school). When you wrote of the sun, which our world revolves around (according to His laws), and the Son, Who are lives are suppose to revolve around, it came to mind.
:)
Excellent. Do elaborate. This is quite significant, and ought to suggest a whole book of thought on the symbol (as the pagans saw) and the reality (as the scientists see) and the Chestertonian vision which sees both, and yet deeper.
Also thank you for giving me a hint what essay I will do next on Tuesdays. It is titled "A Gift from the Sun"...
I do hope you will permit us to see the rest of your work on the Sun... I think many of us are "heliocentrists" hee hee!
Kindest Doctor,
Am not an expert on any of these subjects, but have merely come to certain conclusions regarding the matter of matter. The sun brings us warmth and light, providing the necessary elements of energy needed for life- which is what water does also in its way, as dictated by the laws God set down for nature. In this world, as everything and everyone is subject to the fall, even too much of a good thing can be hazardous to life. Too much sun, too much water.
A pagan, (as you have aptly pointed out, siting I believe, without looking it up, Chesterton's observation that there really is no such thing as a real "pagan" these days), may challenge water blessed by a priest who has taken extensive sacred vows as being actually holy, and holding up the oceans instead as being true "holy" waters. You also referred to St. Francis' calling nature our sister, not our mother. Well, God did make the oceans. But, the oceans are also fallen nature, and can therefore be deadly. God Himself sited the difference between the natural fallen nature and holy ground, when he demanded Moses (it was Moses, wasn't it?) remove his sandals. The difference is unseen, like the unseen graces we receive at the Holy Mass that you brought up earlier. I believe the greatest danger to man is deliberately offending God, and His greatest joy is when, as you also said, He sees us trying to please Him, and remembering to thank Him.
Jesus came first to cleanse us from within, making us eligible to be saved wholly, in our entirety, body and soul. The next time will be what some have expected for many generations, having not recognized Him the first time, not having known Him as the Lamb OF God. Sometimes, if we are quiet and in need, He will warm us with His Smile from within and without, touching us like the calmest wind- unseen, but felt, covering us protectively with His Cloak. The best sci-fi and fantasy can not compare to what He has in store for us- like that blank check of grace we receive from the Eucharist that you mentioned...
My apologies to Mrs. Chesterton for being a blog hog on the blog of Blogg.
:)!!!
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