LOST IN CREATION’S BEAUTY

Homer tells the story of Ulysses a respected warrior who is returning home, to the island of Ithaca, from the Trojan War.  Ulysses is a sympathetic, complex man.  He tries to do the right thing and usually pays attention to what the gods tell him.

He especially heeds advice from the goddess Circe who warns him about the “Sirens.” These two monsters, who pretend to be beautiful women with amazing voices, try to assure sailors, who pass their island, by wanting to entertain them with beautiful melodies.  What they really want, however, is to kill them.

But Ulysses wants to hear that famous song and still survive.  Circe has told him how to do it.  He orders his sailors to tie him firmly to the ship’s mast. When he is firmly tied, and his men have the beeswax in their ears, they row their ship alongside the island. 

When he hears the words and the music, the song enchants Ulysses’ heart. He longs to plunge into the waves and to swim to the island to embrace the Sirens.  He strains against the bonds nodding and scowling at his ear-plugged crew as if urging them to free him.  Expecting this reaction, the men row harder and harder with their oars to safety.

Today’s reading describes pagan philosophers so caught up in objects of beauty in creation that they lose sight of their Creator.  Sensory pleasure from art so overwhelms them that they lose sight of the invisible and more powerful realities at work.  In sum, they are ignorant of God.

Jesus too, draws on the stories of Noah and Lot to teach a similar point: It is so easy to get caught up in daily affairs, deadlines, and even desires that we lose sight of eternity.  The phrase “One will be taken and the other left” speaks of the tentativeness and passing value of life’s cares.  Being “taken” happens to us—it’s not something we plan for ourselves.

The question comes to me, is there balance in our lives?  Is God at the center of our being?  Are we so enchanted by desires for success or wealth, or the beauty of the world around us that we strain against the bonds of what we know are right & just to achieve our desires at any cost?  Perhaps the thing we cling to most is security.  It helps us feel control over the inevitable changes in life.  Jesus reminds us that control is not the mother of inner peace.

As we approach this mystery of true love, can we stand before God in gratitude for his freely given love and grace, not armed with a list of accomplishments?