Mtr Mary Trainor

Dear friend,

Great theologians don’t reside only in churches or the academy. Those who grasp God at the Holy’s core often are those whose eyes see past the obvious.

Poets, artists, composers, photographers are among the great theologians. Their hearts turn from the stuff of daily busy-ness toward truths that pass from one generation of humankind to another to another to another....

Their contributions often point us in the same direction as does Holy Scripture. One of the truths seems to be the necessity to feed our souls with loveliness and light.

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never 
pass into nothingness
       --John Keats from Endymion

The 20th century photographer Ansel Adams and his camera captured the essence of our natural world. But Adams left us more than beautiful photographs. He left insights about the value of pushing past the ugliness that wants to take center stage in order to see the beauty that is waiting in the wings.

I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful—an  endless prospect of magic and wonder.
       —Ansel Adams

In today’s Office Gospel (Matthew 6:19-24) Jesus offers some poetry of his own: The eye is the lamp of the body.

What is intended in this beautiful metaphor? Are there ways in which we can ensure that our eye is healthy? That only the light gets in?

I’m thinking of situations that are undeniably dark, or relentlessly frightening, or persistently painful. These come our way, my way, across a lifetime. It would be wonderful if simply banishing them worked. But it doesn’t.

The artists, though, seem to have insight that helps me, such as that notion of pushing past the ugliness in order to see the beauty waiting in the wings.

I spend a fair amount of time on Facebook. There are church things to notice, family events of interest, friends’ latest happenings, and so on.

Also, I am an avid animal activist and for years have cross-posted about creatures in dire circumstances. My online part in this noble work is minimal compared to people who do it full time each and every day. Even so, I can become overwhelmed by the trauma, the losses, the rescues that didn’t succeed. At this point, my lamp is unhealthy and, if I don’t do something about it, darkness can overtake.

So I seek out countermeasures. I look for beauty and wholesomeness and innocence and purity and levity. On Facebook alone I watch endless kitten videos, stories about heroes and those they saved, kids who used their lunch money to buy flowers for a lonely man next door, a dog that returned to its master’s grave for thirteen years, beautiful sunsets, and magnificent birds in flight. It’s all there, too. And it’s worth pushing past the ugliness displayed on social media in order to see the beauty waiting in the wings.

Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body…” That is a precious thing, deserving the greatest care I can provide.

Mtr. Mary