A Ladder Ascending to God
1. Nature shows forth the power and beauty of God. When we gaze at the sky on a clear night, countless millions of stars seem to look back at us like so many shining eyes wishing to remind us of God’s greatness. These brilliant pin-points of light are really immense bodies, often much larger than our own globe. God created them and flung them into space, where He fixed for them the orbits which they must travel every year throughout the ages. They carry out their Creator’s plan at every moment, never deflecting in the slightest from their course. If they were to do so, the result would be a universal catastrophe.
Everything in the firmament obeys God’s law. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” (Ps. 18:2) The further Science advances, the more wonderful appear God’s power and greatness. Our ancestors wove legends about the bright belt of stars which ploughed its milky way through the firmament, but today we know that this apparent conglomeration of gleaming dust consists of other worlds and far away systems of planets. We should feel humble in the presence of so much beauty and harmony. Let us adore and love the omnipotent Creator of such wonders.
2. Let us lower our eyes and observe the world around us. Here again everything speaks to us of God, for everything is a reflection of His power and goodness. From the tiny flower which opens its perfumed petals to the dawn and closes them again to the sunset as if in an act of self-effacement before its Creator, to the pines and cedars of the forest, all nature seems to send up a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God. We are surrounded by marvels, but the greatest of them all is man, the lord of the universe. The beauty and order which we admire in creatures are concentrated in him; the eye, the ear, and the tongue are among the extraordinary gifts which his body has received from God. But when we pass from the body to the soul, that spiritual flame which God has kindled in us, we have reached an object of wonder far surpassing the splendour of material things. A mind which is capable of thought and reasoning and a heart which is capable of love belong not merely to this world but are a living image of our Creator. It is for Him, therefore, that the intellect should function; it is He that the heart should love.
3. How often, nevertheless, is our mind led astray by the passing beauty of this world. How often is our heart engrossed in a search for a happiness which is purely illusory. God has given us created things so that we may see in them a reflection of His goodness and beauty and may use them as a ladder which will lead us to Him. We shall be lost if we look back and fall beneath the false spell of this earthly fairyland. Our minds and hearts should look upwards towards Heaven.
God alone can satisfy the infinite desires of the soul. Let us never lose sight of Him. Everything else passes, but God does not change. He will be our sure guide in this life and our everlasting happiness in the next.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are subject to deletion if they are not germane. I have no problem with a bit of colourful language, but blasphemy or depraved profanity will not be allowed. Attacks on the Catholic Faith will not be tolerated. Comments will be deleted that are republican (Yanks! Note the lower case 'r'!), attacks on the legitimacy of Pope Francis as the Vicar of Christ (I know he's a material heretic and a Protector of Perverts, and I definitely want him gone yesterday! However, he is Pope, and I pray for him every day.), the legitimacy of the House of Windsor or of the claims of the Elder Line of the House of France, or attacks on the legitimacy of any of the currently ruling Houses of Europe.