Article by Marc Aupiais
The true art of poetic work- is not giving many meanings to a work- but giving infinite meaning- limited by truth.
One word, must cancel another's meaning- one stream, an idea- destroy the tangent of another.
The perfect poem speaks deeply and shallowly at once- on deep matters infinite, and practical matters also. The dynamic poet can speak to smart and dumb alike- or protect the foolish while enlightening the wise.
Such a text is hard to create- the larger it is, the more dynamic it must be. With a dynamic text- context matters more- what comes before or later- matters all the more.
The bible is such a work, it speaks solidly and more. It leaves us wanting and quenched of want all at once. It is designed ad infinitum, and speaks of all there is. The problem with a dynamic text- is how much it enforces a mirror effect. A person can easily misread it- or only understand one level of it.
A dynamic text only speaks to us what we are able to hear. Like an ocean shell- lifted to the ear, so are the deeper mysteries- only heard if we seek them wisely and lift them up in faith.
A dynamic text, when translated- loses meaning, loses truth, in the inadequacy of the translator. The influences of the world- its prisms limit the reader, and sometimes combat the perfection of the text.
The bible says- "[... The] Church, which is [the / a] pillar and foundation of truth..." (I Timothy chapter 3, verse 15)
In the language written, there was no definite article used, so I have been told. And we know that the Greek past and present tenses were different than our own. Much of the work, captured was in a different language system. It is perhaps why Jesus so relied on parables. Word for word, the bible loses some meaning- although the meaning is assertainable with honest intent at inner learning of the whole truth. If the Church is a pillar of truth, or the pillar of truth- the words pillar and foundation, still mean the same. A building cannot stand if even one foundation is missing. The text remains valid.
And on other levels- we also forget- our metaphors today- our ways of describing, the concepts many believe, had yet to exist when Jesus spoke.
And yet- while dynamic, the bible is rich. When read with the right lense (really corrective against our localised area)- we are infinitely quenched of thirst and infinitely desire so much more.
Many Catholics have turned to protestant versions of the bible- with the books of the early Canon of the bible, books which Catholics and the rest of mainstream Christianity accept: added in. I think this a mistake. Often protestants have given a more literal interpretation, even as often they have tainted the text- yet the greatest advantage of a bible, is for it to give you the context of the words, to compare them with other texts of the genre and time- to explain how the Christians, and society interpreted the words. I would not advise a Catholic to risk their soul- by reading a bible which is not Catholic.
When I read the bible, my catechism is ready- my mind alert. I attempt to spiritually consume the word- to accept Jesus into me through the words- as though he were a sea creature jumping out of a pond (the page)- and into my being.
I test the words within me, and ponder them. I compare them to what I know- I digest them. I research them as I struggle, and lean on the other two pillars- the tradition and the magisterium of the People of Christ.
I do not determine to act on the words, but to have them clean my soul- I do not intend to rush off in terror into the world, all aghast... I intend to nurture my soul, by pushing God's words through it as though cleansing my system with water.
And so- I meditate on the truth. I ignore the immediate voice, and entangles in the deeper, softer, weaker sound which hovers above the page- and emerges as I continually read.
I used to read oft the bible- but now I read it less. I find that many of the deepest lessons are around us in the constructing of our world. Perhaps if we understood its ways more... We'd better comprehend God.
Much of the bible is practical advise- we must greet people we know- not only friends; we must treat workers justly, and guard what is ours. We must not... We must ... We shall not take care of him who abuses our charity by refusing to work when able... Yet while that which is practical should enter our lives softly- most of all a desire for truth, yet the rest must be pondered. The eternal pond of God, its power must be pondered in the depths. His eternal mysteries- always revealing more ad infinitum, until we burst past the depths and breadth of all things.
It is not unwise to stop, think... Ponder the pond of our world. We have all the time we need! Knowing our real wants- taking our evil desires, and step by step tracing these mis-manifestations of true, just wants- back to our real desires- is how we conquer sin. It is not our deep, actual wants which are evil- the human being was made in proportion- but what we render them as- in our practical pursuit of these, or our thoughts of pursuit, which may be. The righteous- true man- takes his any evil desire back to the proper point, and renders it right. A slight diversion can change the whole path of a stream- can destroy mountains... And lives.
It is always good to look gradually into the depths of our souls. Pushing slowly back- never missing a slight moment until we reach right back deep within- and push into our soul to God ad infinitum. The Soul is the design of a man, the truth God made of Him- which is his life and connector with Man's Original Creator.
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