Is the hum of a refrigerator capable of bearing the infinite? I wondered this morning post- Vigils over a cup of steaming coffee in the Abbey kitchen.
There was a total, blessed silence and then the hum.
Today is the optional memorial of St Athanasius and will pass by unexamined by most. The creed which bears his name is too convoluted for most of us to get our minds around it. And to be totally honest, his is not the most attractive figure among the ancient Saints. Beleaguered and outnumbered by his Arian opponents, he tooled around the fading Empire like a curmudgeonly St. Jerome on wheels. I admire Athanasius' tenacity, though. Without it, one of the most precious lines of thought would have been lost to theology.
If God really did become truly human, as Athanasius doggedly maintained, then all things become possible. Our creation is more than just a way station on the way to Something Greater. The physical creation has meaning, our lives are aflame with the Presence.
Hence, the refrigerator hum. Yes, it too can be a sacramental, not in the same sense as the Sign of the Cross or Holy Water, but sacramental nonetheless.
Benedicate Domine, omnes refrigerators!
There was a total, blessed silence and then the hum.
Today is the optional memorial of St Athanasius and will pass by unexamined by most. The creed which bears his name is too convoluted for most of us to get our minds around it. And to be totally honest, his is not the most attractive figure among the ancient Saints. Beleaguered and outnumbered by his Arian opponents, he tooled around the fading Empire like a curmudgeonly St. Jerome on wheels. I admire Athanasius' tenacity, though. Without it, one of the most precious lines of thought would have been lost to theology.
If God really did become truly human, as Athanasius doggedly maintained, then all things become possible. Our creation is more than just a way station on the way to Something Greater. The physical creation has meaning, our lives are aflame with the Presence.
Hence, the refrigerator hum. Yes, it too can be a sacramental, not in the same sense as the Sign of the Cross or Holy Water, but sacramental nonetheless.
Benedicate Domine, omnes refrigerators!
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