The parish to which I have retired, St. John of the Ladder in Greenville, SC, has the extreme blessing of an iconographer-in-residence. The Church was built but a few years ago, and has slowly seen its walls frescoed. It is a place of beauty. Serving in the altar, I find that my eyes are frequently drawn to the icons. There are the figures of notable bishops, our heavenly concelebrants, who stand beside the mystical Child. There are also a number of trees and other details that are common in such a depiction. Recently, however, I began to notice that two of the trees have very distinctive fruit: peaches on the one, and pears on the other. My mind drew a blank as it cast about for a reference to “peaches” in the Scriptures. Alas.
This past week, I cornered the iconographer and asked about the peaches and pears. He explained that they are a representation of this particular place in creation (South Carolina – famous for its peaches and fruit) being made into paradise. To understand this, it is useful to remember that Orthodox icons are not historical depictions – they portray that which is present-in-heaven – as such, they are “windows” to heaven.
Chapter 8 in Romans famously speaks of the resurrection of creation, described as being “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Additionally, numerous fathers of the Church speak of “natural contemplation” (theoria physike) in which the believer observes the goodness of God at work in creation.
Among the many things this suggests to me is the place that nature properly has in the life of a believer. We use creation. It is the food we consume. It is the stuff of which we build our homes and make our clothes. That it is also to be the stuff of paradise, however, is often lost on us. Indeed, that other human beings are to be the stuff of paradise is tragically forgotten as well.
The ascetic tradition (fasting and such) frequently gets misunderstood as a disdain for things. Nothing could be further from the truth. What salutary value would there be in giving up something you despise?
It is said of St. Amphilochios of Patmos (+1970) that he often gave an epitimia (penance) in confession that the penitent should plant a tree on the rocky island. It transformed the landscape. There is also this famous quote from St. Isaac of Syria:
What is a charitable heart? It is a heart that is burning with charity for the whole of creation, for men, for the birds, for the beasts, for the demons — for all creatures. He who has such a heart cannot see or call to mind a creature without his eyes becoming filled with tears by reason of the immense compassion that seizes his heart, a heart that is softened and can no longer bear to see or learn from others of any suffering, even the smallest pain, being inflicted upon a creature. This is why such a man never ceases to pray also for the animals, for the enemies of the Truth, and for those who do him evil, that they may be preserved and purified. He will pray even for the reptiles, moved by the infinite pity that reigns in the hearts of those who are becoming united to God.
It is not incorrect to say that such a person has united himself to all of creation and bears it before the throne of God. This is union with the very heart of God Who, looking upon creation at its beginning said, “It is very good.”
St. Maximus the Confessor raises the bar still higher. He describes three “incarnations” of the eternal Logos of God: (1) God becomes man as the Logos takes flesh and dwells among us in the person of Jesus Christ; (2) in the letters and syllables of Holy Scripture; (3) in creation itself.
Of this third “incarnation,” he writes:
It can also be understood to mean that for love of us [God] hides Himself mysteriously in the spiritual essences of created beings, as if in so many individual letters [of the alphabet], present totally in each one in all His fullness…In all the variety is hidden the One who is eternally the same, in composite things the One who is simple and without parts, in those things which had to begin on a certain day the One who has no beginning, in the visible the One who is invisible, in the tangible the One who cannot be touched…
In brief: “The world is sacrament.”
Of course, when we say such a thing, people sometimes react by thinking that we are setting the world on a pedestal. However, the sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood is given to us to eat and drink. By the same token, the world is given to us for our use, but our using is sacramental as well when done rightly.
The great tragedy of secularism is its reduction of all things to mere things. We are created to have right relationships with all things as well as all people. At its heart this right relationship is the manifestation of love. And this love is joy and wonder at the very giftedness of the world – itself the manifestation of God’s love towards us.
We live in an icon and sacrament of paradise. There are those among us whose gift it is to reveal such things. Their gardens are wonders and their homes bear the fragrance of forgiveness and kindness. Animals are drawn to them and become docile in their presence.
This year, as the season of peaches draws near here in South Carolina, I will remember the walls of my parish’s sanctuary and the peaches of paradise. I will eat them more slowly, perhaps with a splash of cream. I will give thanks to the Giver of Life for such wonderful things and look forward to the day we all share them in paradise.
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