The God who delights in circles, pregnant bellies and fruit hanging on trees
Reflections
“Finding ways to do meaning-making is an incredibly important and life-enhancing activity in our society which has a tendency to see things through a utilitarian lens. That is, we look at things in terms of their usefulness to we humans, rather than seeking to appreciate their deeper intrinsic value…,” says The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Catt
The moon is most happy When it is full.
And the sun always looks
Like a perfect minted gold coin. That was just Polished
And placed in flight
By God’s playful Kiss.
And so many varieties of fruit
Hang plump and round
From branches that seem like a Sculptor’s hands.
I see the beautiful curve of a pregnant belly Shaped by a soul within,
And the Earth itself,
And the planets and the Spheres-
I have gotten the hint:
There is something about circles The beloved likes.
Hafiz,
Within the Circle of a Perfect One
There is an Infinite Community
Of Light
— Circles, a poem by Hafiz, as rendered by Daniel Ladinsky
I love the way poets can help us “to see”.
Hafiz’s poem, Circles, builds a wonderful set of connections between objects that we might otherwise see as unconnected. And then by describing the way those objects are connected, Hafiz helps us to appreciate a deep truth about the nature of things; a deep truth about the role of beauty; a deep truth about God; and about how God sees things we might otherwise describe as “ordinary”.
In other words, Hafiz and many other poets help us do some meaning-making.
Finding ways to do meaning-making is an incredibly important and life-enhancing activity in our society which has a tendency to see things through a utilitarian lens. That is, we look at things in terms of their usefulness to we humans, rather than seeking to appreciate their deeper intrinsic value, which is to see them in the way that Hafiz believes God sees them.
These two ways of looking at life, the utilitarian and, what can be called, the deontological (the ends might not justify the means), often clash when it comes to considering how we approach land use.
For Hafiz and the deontologist a wild space has an intrinsic value. In theological terms, it has a value that comes from being created as a thing of beauty by the Divine, the one Hafiz refers to as the beloved. And so, as far as they are concerned, it is not only ok, but essential to let the wild space be.
On the other hand, the utilitarian frame wants to explore the land’s value in more pragmatic ways. Are there minerals there we could mine? Water we could dam? Can we stop it being “a waste” by making it “accessible” so that humans can enjoy it? Can we add value to it or make it give us value by building an exclusive resort in it? We might even be able add the term ‘eco-‘ in front of the word ‘resort’ to make it more exclusive and so add even more value.
By providing us with an alternate way of viewing things to the one that dominates our everyday life, poets like Hafiz, allow us to identify things we might need to discuss more fully. By way of example, I have been hearing people talking about the cost of health care for the elderly in ways that suggest that they might be a drag on the system rather than seeing it as an expression of our love for them. And one of the news sites noted that people were questioning the cost of repatriation flights from Lebanon rather than celebrating the fact we were able to keep some people safe in the face of an unfolding war.
What cost a life? Believe it or not, utilitarian economists can give you answer in dollar terms. The Great Barrier Reef likewise.
Utilitarianism can make us very hard-nosed.
Hafiz and others like him help us be more like the God who delights in circles, pregnant bellies and fruit hanging on trees.
First published in the Precinct eNews on 14 October 2024.
Jump to next article
