Measureless

 "Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:28)

My intellect filters out glory. I measure every appearance in relation to a thought, an ideal that only exists in my mind. I strain the ocean of the incomprehensible through a gray shroud of rationality, and try to rise above the world in my lonely tower of dominion, imagining that God created me to rule, to subdue, and thus to be separate...

But what would I behold if I threw away my little cup and ceased to measure the sea? What would I feel if I let waves of Radiance crash over me, wordless and ineluctable, as on the first morning when Adam had not yet tamed the world with names? Which luminous toenail or freakish twig, which mistaken tweet of random rapture in the song of robins, which byte of glorious star spam overloading night with the silent beauty of useless information, what golden follicle of poodle's hair would I worship in this fallen moment, just as it is, set free from the sin of comparison, knowing beyond thought the simple Truth that nothing is better, nothing is worse, all is damned to perfection, equally tainted with Grace?
_________________
Painting: Roger Vandersteene, Provincial Museum of Alberta; 'Creation' melds biblical narratives with rich symbolism of the Cree tribal people.

No comments: