All wisdom comes
from the LORD
and with him it remains forever, and is before all time
The sand of the seashore, the drops of rain,
the days of eternity: who can number these?
Heaven’s height, earth’s breadth, the depths of the abyss: who can explore these?
Before all things else wisdom was created;
and prudent understanding, from eternity.
Heaven’s height, earth’s breadth, the depths of the abyss: who can explore these?
Before all things else wisdom was created;
and prudent understanding, from eternity.
Though the Easter Cycle will tail off on the coming Sundays, with feasts of the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi, it’s over for the weekday cycle. “We now return you to your regular programming…” taking up where we left off, with Monday of the seventh week in ordinary time.
Where better to re-begin
than Ecclesiasticus, known today as “The
Wisdom of Sirach,” and his thoughts about eternity? As I understand there was
no word for infinity or eternity in ancient Hebrew, Greek or Latin. The old
Latin expression was “per saeculum saeculi,” meaning through ages of ages. A cowboy might call it a month of Sundays.
Though mathematicians developed the concepts of eternity and
infinity we still have a hard time comprehending them. Can anything be
infinite? And yet, if God is absolutely good and infinite is better than limited or
confined, God must be infinite. There is no containing the wisdom, authority,
goodness or mercy of God. If the rational mind balks at the idea, complaining “I
can’t imagine it!” the heart is delighted. Why should the heart worry about the
mind’s scruples?
From what I understand, physicists are
discovering timelessness in the black holes of space. They really can’t see it
there but it makes sense to them. Black holes are dying stars that have spent
their energy, collapsed and are continuing to collapse upon themselves. They cannot
stop shrinking! But their gravity, growing ever more intense, sucks the
space-time continuum into themselves and both distance and time disappear.
Classical philosophers knew that time is
founded upon eternity. Saint Augustine was especially fascinated by the idea. Eternity
is not just endless or unlimited time; it is presence, the unlimited now of all
time. This is where God lives, in the
eternally present. When he appears in time, within our history, he brings the
presence of eternity to us, and invites us to live there with him.
This really isn’t very strange. Lovers gaze
into one another’s eyes and lose all sense of time. They are content to be
there in the present. Romantic songs delight in eternity,
Tonight,
tonight, / Won't be just any night, / Tonight there will be no morning star. / Tonight,
tonight, / I'll see my love tonight! / And for us, stars will stop where they
are. /
Today,
the minutes seem like hours, / The hours go so slowly, / And still the sky is
light. / Oh moon, grow bright, / And make this endless day endless night! / Tonight... no morning star. (from West Side Story)
 |
| Look who won the PowerBall! |
Eternity is a promise God makes to lovers. Young
lovers discover it in one another’s arms; parents see it in their children; Christians
find it in prayer.
Saint Clare urged her disciples to “Gaze on
him!” the Crucified Lord, and know that he is always and forever there for you.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.