The title of this inspiration comes from a poem written by Thomas Merton, my favorite monk of the twentieth century. Merton’s life and spirituality have been important to me as I have reflected on my own life and my own developing spirituality. In many ways Merton is an old friend for me. I never met him, although I know five or six people who did know him. He was a member of a rigorous monastery in the hills of Kentucky, where I have visited numerous times. He died tragically in 1968. But he left an incredible legacy through his writings, which still speak to me and to our times.
An example of this relevance is his famous long poem he entitled, Hagia Sophia, written in 1962. Hagia Sophia uses two Greek words, “Holy Wisdom.” Sophia is the Greek word for “wisdom” and we note that it is feminine. The best analogy for Sophia is to see it comparably to the Greek word, Logos, which usually is translated “Word.” This Word is familiar to us when it is employed in the first verses of John’s Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (1:1) We get a good understanding if we know there is a tradition within Christianity (and Judaism) that is called the Wisdom tradition. That tradition would see a comparable role for Sophia that the Word plays. In effect Sophia and Logos (Word) are like brother and sister or, perhaps, two sides of the same coin.
It is upon Sophia---Hagia (holy)---Wisdom that Merton reflects in his poem near the end of his life. It is well to remember that this is the 1960s---that crazy decade all of us older ones remember so well. Even though Merton penned this poem in the early sixties, it nevertheless has bearing for the rest of that decade, even to today. Reassuringly, the poem opens with a powerful line. “There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness.” Wisdom is fecundity (fruitfulness), light, namelessness and a hidden wholeness. Let’s pursue these metaphors into another section in the poem that reveals Merton’s vision.
Near the beginning of the poem, Merton recounts a vision that leaves him finally “standing in clarity, in Paradise.” I smile at how specific Merton is when he begins this section. “At five-thirty in the morning I am dreaming in a very quiet room when a soft voice awakens me from my dream.” I can say this soft voice is Wisdom---Sophia---at work. Not surprisingly, it is a soft voice. Sophia never does violence. Those of us who are called to follow Sophia and become wise in our own spiritual way will never opt for violence either. Wisdom is, after all, the very Presence of God in our midst. And so Wisdom quietly awakens Merton from his dream.
Merton continues. “I am like all mankind awakening from all the dreams that ever were dreamed in all the nights of the world.” Interestingly, Merton becomes the spokesperson for all of humankind. What is happening to him can and, eventually, will happen to each of us and to all of us. He moves on to describe the experience. “It is like the One Christ awakening in all the
separate selves that ever were separate and isolated and alone in all the lands of the earth. It is like all minds coming back together into awareness from all distractions, cross-purposes and confusions, into unity of love.”
In Merton’s words we see how closely aligned Sophia and Christ are. Importantly, the work of Sophia is toward the unity of love. Each and every one of us separate selves---often feeling isolated and alone---is brought into awareness of what is and what will become. It is instructive that Merton is painting a picture of our future---the future of our world. As such, he borrows a metaphor from the early Genesis creation account.
Merton says, “It is like the first morning of the world (when Adam, at the sweet voice
of Wisdom awoke from nonentity and knew her), and like the Last Morning of the world when all the fragments of Adam will return from death at the voice of Hagia Sophia, and will know where they stand.” With this poignant sentence Merton has combined all of time---from the first day of the world to the very last day. Powerfully, we are told where we will stand on that last day. It is as if we are given the blueprint for our future.
To finish this section, Merton turns from using Adam as a metaphor to a similar use of Eve. The whole experience, he tells us, “is like being awakened by Eve. It is like being awakened by the Blessed Virgin. It is like coming forth from primordial nothingness and standing in clarity, in Paradise.” To be awakened from the dream is to become aware. But it is a very particular kind of awareness. It is an awareness that will be actualized in my life and in yours.
The awareness is that we will be moved from our nothingness to a standing posture. We will be aware that we are standing in clarity. For me this symbolizes that our awareness is our knowing. Indeed, I can imagine that Merton says it is more than knowing. It is wisdom. We will become wise like Sophia, our Wisdom teacher.
We will know in clarity that we are in Paradise. We will be with God.
An example of this relevance is his famous long poem he entitled, Hagia Sophia, written in 1962. Hagia Sophia uses two Greek words, “Holy Wisdom.” Sophia is the Greek word for “wisdom” and we note that it is feminine. The best analogy for Sophia is to see it comparably to the Greek word, Logos, which usually is translated “Word.” This Word is familiar to us when it is employed in the first verses of John’s Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (1:1) We get a good understanding if we know there is a tradition within Christianity (and Judaism) that is called the Wisdom tradition. That tradition would see a comparable role for Sophia that the Word plays. In effect Sophia and Logos (Word) are like brother and sister or, perhaps, two sides of the same coin.
It is upon Sophia---Hagia (holy)---Wisdom that Merton reflects in his poem near the end of his life. It is well to remember that this is the 1960s---that crazy decade all of us older ones remember so well. Even though Merton penned this poem in the early sixties, it nevertheless has bearing for the rest of that decade, even to today. Reassuringly, the poem opens with a powerful line. “There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden wholeness.” Wisdom is fecundity (fruitfulness), light, namelessness and a hidden wholeness. Let’s pursue these metaphors into another section in the poem that reveals Merton’s vision.
Near the beginning of the poem, Merton recounts a vision that leaves him finally “standing in clarity, in Paradise.” I smile at how specific Merton is when he begins this section. “At five-thirty in the morning I am dreaming in a very quiet room when a soft voice awakens me from my dream.” I can say this soft voice is Wisdom---Sophia---at work. Not surprisingly, it is a soft voice. Sophia never does violence. Those of us who are called to follow Sophia and become wise in our own spiritual way will never opt for violence either. Wisdom is, after all, the very Presence of God in our midst. And so Wisdom quietly awakens Merton from his dream.
Merton continues. “I am like all mankind awakening from all the dreams that ever were dreamed in all the nights of the world.” Interestingly, Merton becomes the spokesperson for all of humankind. What is happening to him can and, eventually, will happen to each of us and to all of us. He moves on to describe the experience. “It is like the One Christ awakening in all the
separate selves that ever were separate and isolated and alone in all the lands of the earth. It is like all minds coming back together into awareness from all distractions, cross-purposes and confusions, into unity of love.”
In Merton’s words we see how closely aligned Sophia and Christ are. Importantly, the work of Sophia is toward the unity of love. Each and every one of us separate selves---often feeling isolated and alone---is brought into awareness of what is and what will become. It is instructive that Merton is painting a picture of our future---the future of our world. As such, he borrows a metaphor from the early Genesis creation account.
Merton says, “It is like the first morning of the world (when Adam, at the sweet voice
of Wisdom awoke from nonentity and knew her), and like the Last Morning of the world when all the fragments of Adam will return from death at the voice of Hagia Sophia, and will know where they stand.” With this poignant sentence Merton has combined all of time---from the first day of the world to the very last day. Powerfully, we are told where we will stand on that last day. It is as if we are given the blueprint for our future.
To finish this section, Merton turns from using Adam as a metaphor to a similar use of Eve. The whole experience, he tells us, “is like being awakened by Eve. It is like being awakened by the Blessed Virgin. It is like coming forth from primordial nothingness and standing in clarity, in Paradise.” To be awakened from the dream is to become aware. But it is a very particular kind of awareness. It is an awareness that will be actualized in my life and in yours.
The awareness is that we will be moved from our nothingness to a standing posture. We will be aware that we are standing in clarity. For me this symbolizes that our awareness is our knowing. Indeed, I can imagine that Merton says it is more than knowing. It is wisdom. We will become wise like Sophia, our Wisdom teacher.
We will know in clarity that we are in Paradise. We will be with God.
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