I have come to now regard as one of my favourite books, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, by Madeleine L’Engle.[1] I read it twice over the past several months. I find it so quote worthy, that I’ll be posting several entries highlighting some of L’Engle’s reflections.
L’Engle begins by discussing what it means to, “take time to be. . . being time. . . . Listen to the silence. Stay open to the voice of the Spirit. . . . Slow me down Lord.”
The broader discussion pursued here by L’Engle, is the meaning of art. L’Engle describes good art, as “cosmos in chaos.” That’s quite a mouthful. But at one simple level, L’Engle is suggesting that art which reflects the beauty of creation, should not shrink from engaging the theme of tragedy. The beauty of creation can sometimes be haunting. For the reality of tragedy clarifies the beauty of redemption. The tragedy of creation ought to evoke from a us a sustained pause. So L’Engle prays:
“Slow me down, Lord. . . . I will never understand . . . if I do not slow down and listen to what the Spirit is telling me, telling of the death of trees, the death of planets, of people, and what all these deaths mean in the light of love of the Creator.”
L’Engle calls this kind of “listening,” a “questioning”:
“This questioning of the meaning of being, and being and dying is behind the telling of stories around the tribal firs at night . . . the singing of melodies of love in spring, and “the death of green autumn. It is part of the deepest longing of the human psyche, a recurrent ache in the hearts of all of God’s creatures.”
L’Engle recalls she has been “forced to listen. . . . The Holy Spirit does not hesitate to use any method at hand to make a point to us reluctant creatures.” As she concludes the reflection, L’Engle then says, “It is a frightening thing to open oneself to this strange and dark side of the divine; it means letting go of our sane self-control, that control which gives us the illusion of safety. But safety is only an illusion, and letting it go is part of listening to the silence, and to the Spirit.”
“Generally what is more important than getting watertight answers is learning to ask the right questions.”
With reflection upon Psalm 19, L’Engle then quotes the poet E.E. Cummings:
“Now the ears of my ears are awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened.”
“The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.”
(Psalm 19:1)
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”
(Psalm 34:7-8)
[1] Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press; Crosswicks, Ltd, 1980), 2-9.
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