In the cusp of enchantment, caught up in the amazing display of beauty, we stand in a moment that transcends the very core of who we are. And yet, it is also these moments that we are fully aware of our ordinariness, of our being commonplace. In this scenic panorama of might and resplendence, we are conscious of that details that make us what and who we are – our nondescript shoes, our regular clothes, haircuts – these bespeak our non-extraordinary status. We are confronted with our finiteness- we are who we are: a strange mixture of compounds and elements of the earth, gifted with ephemeral breath, and bound by the confines of this too mortal of a body. The details of our unremarkable existence situated us in this space, in this time, and thus, it is altogether dreary. And yet this life is imbibed with the possibility of heartbreaking beauty, and heart-rending revelations, both merciful and yet terrible. From time to time, there comes a tear in the fabric of our uniforms, and moments of transcendent radiance breaks forth. And suddenly we are transformed. We are lifted into a plain far beyond our imagination, and into heights that scale the highest mountains of our existence. It is for these moments that we live for.
Our average days lived in so commonplace a life can sometimes be imbued with strange beauty, and it is the sharp contrast that confronts us in a moment of astonishing power: He who is light, He is who is power, has condescended so that these myopic eyes may somehow glimpse at the things only the grandeur of mountains and the magnificence of the oceans hint at. He, who holds the universe in His hands, reaches out in a moment of tenderness and touches us with such tentativeness so as not to shatter us into a million pieces.
Clearly, such power and such a Being do not need finite, trivial specks in the infiniteness of His existence. Clearly, this act of condescension is an act of utter extravagance, of total waste of beauty, for we see nothing but a poor reflection. We cannot appreciate the deeper nuances of His character, and the subtlety of His wisdom. We too can only take so much of His brilliance. Our eyes cannot take it. Our hearts will burst with such glory. But in an act of unprecedented generosity, He lets us in on a secret: He is love, and His delight is in forming a bond with us.
And so, He clothed Himself in the terrible rags of humanity, and made His dwelling among us, and we beheld His glory.
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