Moments of great clarity often occur when the surface of things is perfectly still and mirror-like. In such conditions of profound calm everything can just click into place and make sense. Our seeing becomes deep and crystal clear. The merest breath of wind or the tiniest disturbance will send ripples of confusion out across our perception. The whole picture fragments and distorts. The familiar is rendered strange and we see but don’t comprehend. The arrangements of colours and shapes lose their meaning.
Then patience is a virtue: the ability to sit with and endure the rippling derangement of pattern and order. The courage to watch and wait for that moment, however brief, when the chaos subsides and the incongruous superficialities disappear. To trust that there is an underlying picture which will make sense; one which will be disclosed, revealed and made plain to us. A picture which once seen is never forgotten; one which will therefore enable us to be patient when the ripples of confusion return.
Easter is just such a moment.
Thanks for that Dave.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to add the inverse of that (forgive the pastiche):
Still, unchanging life often becomes invisible by its banal normality. The 'liminal' times when the picture gets shaken up and bits are seen in a new context and in new configurations allow us to 'see' them, rather than overlook them as invisible parts. The familiar rendered strange, new, note-worthy. The shapes and colours change, lose their constrains, become objects themselves. When the ripples subside maybe we will see still-life with new knowledge and perspective. A glimpse of something different from our usual system of classifications which once seen is never forgotten.
Easter is such a moment.
Following on from that comment, Kester Brewin is saying something related about the bible over on:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kesterbrewin.com/2010/03/24/mashing-up-text-2-sola-scriptura/
Thanks for this superb and really helpful alternative and complementary take AM; as ever what you say is absolutely right. Such liminal times are precious and Easter does indeed function in this way too.
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