Cake OR ice cream? Burger OR fries? Law OR freedom? Faith OR science? Happy OR holy? Wild OR wise? Blood+sweat+tears OR Faith and prayer Reliance?
Adore at Mass OR past closed doors? Confess to priest OR deep within? The Word at church OR bedroom floor? Not OR but AND, to win The Lord Therein
Love my neighbor OR my Lord? Coins have ever hugging sides Save the poor OR the unborn? Serve wherever in disguise God mourns Or cries
Christ OR Mary? Who’ll suffice? The knot the Eden pair tied taught The NEW pair, sinless, would unsplice This King and Queen, our spot Of vice Out-blot
Daughter of the Father OR Mother of His Son? Virgin Most Chaste OR Spirit’s dear Bride? Crushing snakes OR Victory won? Normal girl OR spared From sin And pride?
Is God now heard through Verse OR Pope? Transcendent OR descending near? Is God in us OR in the Host? The latter, most OR in both
To be
Revered?
Not OR but AND! He’s standing close His ruses fade; His Face appears For in each lad or lass… distressed And in the “least of these”… oppressed He’s often missably, in-explicably… In each slum… surreptitiously… In each child… hug and kissably… Here
My science teacher sat me down at lunch and said with pride “I’ve spied how hard you’ve worked… You’ve struggled, really tried!” He shared he’d like to tutor me in things not taught in class I said, “I guess, but will it help me pass?”
He grinned and said, “Of course! Let’s start. For elders and for youth Two wings are sorely needed… To soar and fly to truth!
Like Beatrice, or Morpheus, I’ll try opening your eyes So listen well”, he mumbled, munching fries
“The Matter-only Vision says what’s seen is ALL that’s real The things that you can sense Or measure, test, or feel It holds that all that matters is the matter you can hold On the Matter-only Vision, are you sold?”
I mused, “So if I understand, on science this view is founded The only things that count Are things that can be counted The view that all that’s valuable is viewable by eyes! But in the face of many Faiths, this flies?”
My mentor chuckled, stating, “You have grasped the concept clearly There’s more, please hear me out But first, what is your query?” I said with caution, “I’m a Christian, but I trust in science Could both beliefs be somehow in alliance?”
He jumped up, spilled his tea and cried, “Of course! They’re best of friends! They complement each other On each, the truth depends! A lot of famous scientists were also faithful Christians Like Bacon, Llull and Ockham, all Franciscans!”
I paused and posed, “I guess they had a different kind of vision?”
He nodded, “Yes! Passed down through looooong tradition!”
“The Sacramental Vision says that while what’s seen is real The unseen is as well This view makes sense, I feel It holds what matters most is that which eyes cannot behold When the heart learns how to see, new worlds unfold!”
I realized then the sandwich in my hand I hadn’t bitten His words were oddly filling Such wonders left me smitten I stated, “This is deeper than your class, but no offense!” “I see”, he laughed and said, “it’s making sense!”
I thought, “I just can’t wait to tell my friends about this stuff!”
He drew a breath, sat down, and on he spieled…
“The spirit realm’s unseen, yet by the stuff of earth, revealed Things visible are symbols Unveiling what’s concealed That realm is, in a sense, more real than that which senses sense Is this all clear as mud, or too intense?”
I wagged my head, and spurred him on, my breath held in suspense
He plucked his glasses, pointing to a lens
“A Matter-only Lens examines galaxies or Mars, while A Sacramental Lens Sees past the sea of stars The former says that love is merely chemical reactions The latter, soul and body interactions”
“The former claims our bodies have no purpose but to thrill, while The latter, that they teach us Our purpose, and God’s Will The former has a scope confined to scopes and human tools The latter isn’t bound by physics’ rules!”
The bell then yanked my head from new and mind-expanding clouds “May we pick up here tomorrow” I begged, “as time allows?” He cried, “Of course! And bring a friend who might enjoy this topic!” “I will!” I said, “It’s made me less… myopic!”
That night in bed I pondered, head upon the pillow pressing The Matter-only Vision Is flatter, dull, depressing! It claims that when I die, so dies my “I”; then worms lay claim But the other Vision… sparks my heart aflame!
That wise old bird! He shoved me from the nest to spread both wings
Of science and of faith
To help me find fresh things
To let me scan the heights with eyes of head and eyes of heart
And see the hopeful sights new Vision brings!
*****
“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.” -Pope St. John Paul II, Fides etc Ratio
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
“He kept calling them to what was primary by means of what was secondary, that is, through foreshadowings to the reality, through things of time to the things of eternity, through things of the flesh to the things of the spirit, through earthly things to the heavenly things.” -St Irenaeus, Against Heresies
Rhymes for the Rejoiceful 