[Faith-talk] From a book I'm reading

[Poppa Bear]

This isn't a religious book, but even as is shocking as it may sound this
author continually surprises me with his insight into human nature and
Spiritual truths. "Running with her in the dreams, Curtis seeks a glimpse of
their constant companion, expecting suddenly to see an awesome countenance
looking out from the layered fronds of the ferns or gazing down from the
cathedral trees. Then the dog's ultimate wisdom, arising from her perfect
innocence, is shared with Curtis, and he receives the truth that is
simultaneously a revelation and a mystery, both a euphoric exaltation and a
profound humbling. The boy recognizes the Presence everywhere around him,
not confined to one bosk of ferns or one pool of shadows, but resonant in
all things. He feels what otherwise he has only known through faith and
common sense, feels for one sweet devastating moment what only the innocent
can feel: the exquisite rightness of creation from shore to shore across the
sea of stars, a clear ringing in the heart that chases out all fears and
every anger, a sense of belonging, purpose, hope, an awareness of being
loved.

 

Mere joy gives way to rapture, and the boy's awe grows deeper, an awe
lacking any quality of terror, but so filled with wonder and with liberating
humility that his trembling swells into shakes that seem to clang his heart
against the bell of his ribs. At the moment when rapture becomes peals of
bliss, his shaking wakes the dog.

The dream ends and with it the connection to eternity, the joy-inducing
nearness of the playful Presence. A sense of loss shudders through Curtis."
"The boy is left with a memory of transcendence, but not with the feeling of
it, which is the core of the experience-yet he doesn't mourn the loss.
Indeed, life would be unlivable if at every moment he felt the full intimacy
of his spiritual bond with his Maker.

The dog was born in that state of grace. She is accustomed to it, and she is
comfortable with her awareness because her innocence leaves her unfettered
by self-consciousness.

 

For Curtis, as for humankind, such spiritual intensity must be reserved for
a life beyond this one, or for many lives beyond, when deep peace has been
earned, when innocence has been recaptured."

One door away from heaven, Deen Koontz