“I am all too aware that fallible mortals can only take paradise in small doses. I am like that too. Part of me yearns toward transcendence and is filled with wonderful visions; part of me is still vexed by the corruption and injustice of the world I still live in. But then as I said, no human eye has ever seen beyond the Sun”. –The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.
In this section, Paradiso, of the Divine Comedy, Dante is not at all surprised by the dichotomy of humanity. On the one hand we get it. In small doses we see and experience moments of paradise in our daily lives. When the sun peeks out from behind the clouds for only a moment, when the flowers turn their heads toward the sunlight. These moments cover us in peace and bliss that we enjoy tremendously and hope would last forever. Then we encounter human selfishness or ungratefulness and we are right back in the muck. It all feels too heavy, too tight, too impossible, too fast.
The uncertainty of human life can only be managed by trusting that “this” too shall pass, whatever “this” is. That there is a Sun behind the dark clouds, and we will see it again, even if we don’t see it now. Perhaps one day our trust in Life will allow humankind to see beyond the Sun.
Thoughts? Comments?