|
Trinity Sunday, Year A
May 22, 2005
Christ Church, Covington
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude”
(Gen. 2:1).
There’s a scene in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey,
where scientists and astronauts are standing around “the monolith”, a dark
and menacing object that has been discovered on the earth’s moon. The
monolith is both a beacon and a clue, an unearthly object that provides
evidence that human beings are not alone in the universe. It’s an artifact
left behind by an alien race, meant to be discovered by human beings and
to point them in a new direction. The question remains, “What does this
mean for the human race?”, which the movie does a rather ponderous job of
answering.
As the scientists and other worthies stand gazing at the monolith,
however, they’re providing us with another, more unwitting, perspective.
Kubrick’s movie gives us scenes of the Earth from space, of sunrise on the
moon, of the very origin of human life. While we’re looking at the
monolith, we shouldn’t miss a far more complex and significant artifact,
right under our noses (as it were), which is the universe itself. If the
monolith is an artifact, not made by human beings, which provides
testimony to the presence of others, then what is Creation itself, but an
artifact that provides evidence of and testimony to God?
The Creation is hardly as featureless or menacing as Kubrick’s monolith.
Creativity and the desire for relationship is at the heart of the
universe, and so God brings forth a multiplicity of things that reflect
the Divine character. Remember the story of Creation that we heard a
moment ago. Creation is an artifact; it reflects the glory of God, and
also God’s desire to be in Communion with his creatures. God is Communion,
or Community: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we look at what’s around
us, we see the Persons of the Trinity, their love and relationship,
reflected in the great artifact of Creation.
The poet Annie Dillard comments on Creation by saying that “the universal
loves/ the particular,/ that freedom loves to live/ and live fleshed
full,/ intricate,/ and in detail” (Feast Days). God’s character is
expressed in simple things that express creativity and love. The image of
Creation in her poem is a bit different from Kubrick’s monolith: an old
snow tire, maybe abandoned and full of dirt, from which a Rocky Mountain
grass sprouts. That’s her artifact. The Universal God blooms forth in
particular manifestations, which we can observe here and there, by the
side of the road or wherever, and even within ourselves.
For in the microcosm of each one of us is the whole mystery of God. Within
each of us there is consciousness, in which we are both present to
ourselves, as well as hidden. Each of us is a riddle in some ways,
certainly to other people but also to ourselves; in this we find reflected
the mystery of God and his ways with us. We are an artifact, as well, of
God’s presence.
So, if your head is spinning with the contemplation of your own
consciousness, here are some other artifacts that may make my point more
clearly. These are not from Kubrick or Dillard, but from Mrs Hardy’s Pre-K
class at Christ Episcopal School. There’s a picture of God and Jesus, a
picture of God, a rainbow church, a star with three crosses; alongside
flowers, trees, an ocean with eel and pirate ship, and a school of sea
creatures. These are the things that these children saw: the richness of
creation, and the transcendent God, are here reflected together in the
mystery of these human personalities.
So let this day be your preacher; let this day and its beauty reflect to
you the being of God. There are signs all around us. What, like these
children, do you see? Are you able to see creativity and Communion in the
people and things around you, as well as in yourselves? Can you interpret
the signs of God’s presence in simple things? Do you know what they mean
for you? Today you ought to look carefully, outside and within, for the
signs that we are not alone.
Return to Recent Sermons |