Grab an empty jam jar and have a look at this post through its base. Actually, you better put that down or you won’t be able to make out the rest of the post.
‘As a child I spoke as a child
I thought and I understood as a child
But when I became a man
I put away childish things
And began to see through a glass darkly.’
These are words I really love. I always found this bit of the chapter ambiguous. Becoming a man. Putting away childish things. All sounding like something good to work towards. I anticipate what is coming next - the exact nature of the breakthrough that the writer had when they became an adult. In some versions the consequence of maturing is garbled in translation. In this version it is clear and poetic. The consequence is not some boon; some enlightenment after the years of limitations of understanding as a child. The result of putting away childish things is to see less clearly!
The effect is bathos; it expresses a loss I think we all sense as adults. That despite mastering our life we feel removed from joy or enthusiasm or something we once had as children. So these words are expressing a very wise idea. Our becoming more sentient only darkens our vision. Our comprehension of Love, of God, is not improved by increase in understanding. I find the words all the more powerful because they beguile exact meaning. I can’t really say any more. I can’t say the words imply that it is better to understand as a child. Nor can I say the words imply that we can’t ever comprehend this mystery as adults. All I can say is that this communicates to me that I should be humble. I do know it is very rewarding to work on understanding and pursuing richer meaning. But 1 Corinthians 13 reminds me of my limitations to comprehend Love. I only ever see Love through a glass, and that darkly.
As a way of experiencing this (albeit in a way opposite to the metaphor in 1 Corinthians 13) I took off my glasses last night and had a look around. Some of you know what this is like, but for those of you with 20-20 vision I can attest that it is mighty strange. You can see, but you only have an impression of shapes and colours. That said, you still know roughly what you are looking at. My eyesight is bad, but I could survive without glasses. I can see enough to operate, to walk around; to find what I require. But my experience would be impoverished. So I am very thankful for my glasses. This is our experience of Love. We only see darkly the shapes and the colours. How mind-blowing to then see directly and in every detail. May you experience Love fully this week.
Simon Maxwell got healed recently by Joni Mitchell's rendition of I Corinthians 13 on her album Travelogue. While he always appreciated the beauty of that chapter, Love illuminates the ideas so magically that he's been inspired for the next few posts.
I would suggest the child's vision is clearest because it stays so focused. In "adulthood" we bring in so many obtuse "realities" and often lose our concentration on those things which mattered so much to us as children. While not necessarily a bad thing and certainly required of us as we mature, that central and most needed requirement of simple, true love can lose its value as we age and be replaced with complicated substitutes.
God Is Love, not just loving. We cannot see Him fully in this fallen state, so sometimes we manufacture who He is or who we want Him to be because our vision is obscured by the darkness and convolution of sin.
Thanks for these, Simon.
Posted by: Nicole | May 22, 2009 at 07:12 AM
"I put away childish things
And began to see through a glass darkly."
Like you, Simon, I find the wording of those lines provocative and enchanting. I wonder if our darkened perceptions of Love are less the result of acquired understanding, and more a consequence of cynicism and loss of trust. After all, a child believes without seeing, simply because the one who holds him makes a promise.
Good things to think about. Thanks.
Jeanne
Posted by: Jeanne Damoff | May 22, 2009 at 01:25 PM
Wonderful post Simon! What a great reminder of things 'gone by' - things we might otherwise miss.
I too take my God glasses for granted. It's easy to forget what it was like when the world was dark and shadows shifted at will. Thanks for this. Really.
Madison
Posted by: Madison Richards | May 22, 2009 at 05:20 PM