Reminds me of a line from a science fiction movie where this former scientist, now philosopher half jokingly said that maybe one day he would pick up a rock and underneath find written, “Made by God.” Ironically, the existence of the rock, the person, and the very act of picking up the rock are all written with “Made by God.” We just don’t see it. That’s transparency, not virtual reality.
There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach
And later on in my high school
It seemed to me a little cruel
How the right words to say always seemed to stay
Just out of reach
Well I should not have thought it strange
That growing causes growing pains
‘Cause the more we learn the more we know
We don’t know anything
But still it seems a tragic fate
Living with this quiet ache
The constant strain for what remains
Just out of reach
Chorus
We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
And no matter what we have we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
But maybe that’s what heaven is for
There are times I can’t forget
Dressed up in my Sunday best
Trying not to squirm and to maybe learn
A bit of what the preacher preached
And later lying in the dark
I felt a stirring in my heart
And though I longed to see what could not be seen
I still believed
I guess I shouldn’t think it odd
Until we see the face of God
The yearning deep within us tells us
There’s more to come
So when we taste of the divine
It leaves us hungry every time
For one more taste of what awaits
When heaven’s gates are reached
(Chorus)
I believe that’s what heaven is for
There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach
Saw the movie, Henry Poole Is Here. Very, very good movie. Many levels of symbolism. Hope to write more about it later. Here are the haunting lyrics to the song played at the climax of the movie, “On An Ocean” by Lisa Gerrard and Jeff Rona. (Hear the song at Jeff Rona’s myspace page.)
On an ocean white
Of roaring waves
I see your light
And golden face
A precious gift
Of your longing arms
Hurt me not
Just sing to me, my love
Oooo, Oooo
How come so
Soooo…
Sweetly child you sing
And all the joy you bring me
Gooooes…
Goes our loved ones home
And know I will, I will be waiting
On an ocean
Sweetly child you sing
On an ocean
On an ocean
Soooo come…
Soooo…
Here is another poem from Saint Thomas Aquinas in honor of his feast day. This one expresses in poetic form some very deep theology on the nature of God and hints to mysticism not normally associated with the good doctor. Aquinas also shows his sense of humor in the self-deprecating jab at his weight. (Hint: Aquinas was a large man.)
The experience of something out of nothing—
Is that not how one might describe magic?
A hat upside down may appear empty,
Though at God’s command
All life that any planet has ever known
Could dance around the hat’s rim, holding hands.
The root that needs no ground is He,
And from that root all has come.
Creation is God’s litter,
All are nursed;
Some grow more plump than others, indeed.
Eternally amazed is the soul before God,
Watching Him expand.
Witnessing God reveal Himself to Himself—
that divine intimacy
I know.
— Saint Thomas Aquinas (from Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, translated by Daniel Ladinsky)