Monday, August 07, 2006

Food for Thought:

Having recently finished Anni Dillard's Holy the Firm, I had a thought buzzing in my head. It was inspired by a few sentences which Dillard writes while considering if God has any contact with this world:

"Did Christ descend once for all to no purpose, in a kind of divine and kenotic suicide, or ascend once and for all, pulling up his cross after him like a rope ladder home?"

I was then struck with the tenuously related thought, what must it have felt like for the Son of God to empty himself of his Divnity, and become a mere man? Or, what must it have felt like for someone so infinite to become so finite?

I cannot imagine. But for a brief moment, I could, in a small way, almost feel what it may have felt like. And because of this, I think I understand the Christian mystics a little more. Sometimes the contemplation of things to great and mysterious for us can draw us, if only for a very short time, closer to God. It is a deeply personal, and spiritual thing, making me want to read more of the mystics.... all I need is more time.

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