I have a new chair for my room, a comfortable rocker to replace the folding chair which was there before. The result is that I am spending more time gazing from my second-floor window on the live oaks, the golden rain trees, the roof next door, and the duck pond catty-corner from us.
Today the temperature has been in the 30s and low 40s all day — cold for North Florida — with a dismal gray sky. Occasionally, though, the clouds break open, and each time this happens, I am startled. I have to remind myself that I am looking at the same scene. The neighbor’s roof is dappled with sunlight, the white geese on the pond are radiant, and all the colors in the neighborhood are enhanced.
Sitting in my new chair in front of the window on this chilly day, I am reading an essay by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (“A Conversion Story,” The Best Christian Writing 2001, ed. John Wilson, HarperCollins), in which she refers to André Amar, who once taught her philosophy, and who had spoken of religion as “a realm unto itself, irreducible to any other.” I have been reflecting on what it is like to live and move in the realm of religion, or the realm of faith.
It seems to me that in the land of faith, while everything is the same as elsewhere, it is also different, like our neighborhood when the sun comes out: the same trees and houses and geese, but with the colors enhanced, so that we can see more clearly into the reality of things. Ordinary objects and events take on a deeper significance, leading us beyond the surface of themselves and calling us to transcend ourselves.
(I should probably interject here that doubt can accompany us in the realm of faith — the two are not mutually exclusive.)
The three Wise Men of Matthew’s gospel moved in this realm. Both the star and the baby meant something very different to the hearts of the Magi than they did to Herod. These travelers were able to look at a night sky and see a promise, to look at a child and see a king. Dwelling in the realm of faith allows us, too, to behold — an infant, yes — but also a cross — and to recognize Love.
‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ (Genesis 28:17)