Inspired by:
Song of Solomon / Song of Songs
I sought the one whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but I did not find him.
I will rise now and go about the city,
through the marketplaces and the streets,
but I did not find him.
The winter has passed,
the rain is over and gone.
I sought the one whom my soul loves,
I sought him, but I did not find him.
I will wander through the city,
through the marketplaces and the streets,
but I did not find him.
The universe is so infinitely generous in order, beauty and possibility that true meaning always eludes us, concealed behind its very magnificence; like light, which in its fullness blinds and renders the visible invisible.
The plenitude of the unfathomable signifies, therefore, that mystery, the divine, meaning, the deepest truth of the universe is not offered as a rare discovery, but saturates everything so completely that its very abundance makes it impossible to seize or define. It is the paradox of light which, when overwhelming, blinds; the mystery which, instead of hiding, is found everywhere - so much so that it transcends every effort to explain or to contain it within human bounds.
The plenitude of the unfathomable is the experience of standing within a world so rich in mystery and meaning, that only silence, awe, humility, and love may serve as true responses.
Before such majesty, all knowledge becomes poor, all words insufficient, all certainties insignificant. Human reason teeters at the edge of the abyss, groping for the invisible with the hands of the soul, as the infinite pierces and surpasses every boundary of mind and heart.
Every star that is born and extinguished, every silent wave that crosses the cosmos, every trace of life, every human gaze, is a shard of this generosity - a spark from the inextinguishable fire of creation that fits within no measure, no description.
Yet, this grandeur finds its path even in the humblest of moments: in the smile of a child discovering the world for the first time, in the play that fills the courtyard with voices and light, in the silent wonder before a flower that blossoms for no reason. Childlike innocence, with its unclouded gaze, touches the ineffable and accepts it without question, without anxiety, with trust and wonder.
Nature, with her inexhaustible wisdom, whispers the same mystery in every gust of wind, in every trembling leaf in the light, in every raindrop that slides down to the earth. The forests and the oceans, the mountains and the plains, are temples filled with secrets, filled with whispers from the first Creation, where the presence of the divine is felt, not as an answer, but as a pulse of life.
Within the community of people, in the warmth of sharing, in forgiveness, in the touch of companionship, the light of the infinite is reflected. In moments when pain is shared, joy is multiplied, hope grows fierce through the care of one for another - the mystery of existence expands and merges with the mystery of love.
Prayer - whether whispered in a church, rising quietly in a solitary night, or bursting as a cry in despair or gratitude - is the soul’s footprint upon the grandeur of the world. It is the sincere admission that we do not know, that we do not control, that we can only stand - small yet infinite - on the threshold of Mystery, giving thanks for what has been given to us and for what surpasses us.
And time, which flows relentlessly and sweeps everything away, does not manage to dim the light of this grandeur. On the contrary, through the cracks of decay, through the marks of toil and waiting, the truth shines more brightly: nothing essential is ever lost, beauty, meaning, and wonder permeate the world and bathe it in significance, even when all else seems trivial or vain.
And in the end, this is perhaps the deepest lesson: the grandeur of the universe cannot be measured, cannot be defined, but is experienced as silence before an indescribable superabundance. There, science bows before poetry, and the human being remains at once bewildered and complete. Tears and smiles are united, wonder becomes prayer, and all of existence stands ecstatic before this ineffable and ever-present miracle.
And if, somewhere, sometime, our soul should take flight out of gratitude or heartbreak, let us remember: this happiness, this wound, this silence and this prayer are the language by which the unfathomable grandeur answers the call of the human heart. For we are made to taste the infinite - not to comprehend it, but to live it, to love it, to give thanks for it.