seeing
Coffee with Montgomery, an old pal.
"What do you think of Medjugorje?" I asked.
"How do you mean?" sez he.
"Could God really be permitting the blessed mother to appear there in order to call human beings back to him?" I elaborated.
"Listen James," said Montgomery. "God is right here. He's wherever we choose to open our hearts to him. You don't have to go to Medjugorje to find him or the blessed mother."
I thought for a moment.
"Okay," I said. "But you know. There are scenes of natural beauty all over the world. Beautiful mountains. Waterfalls. Deserts. Oceans. Whatever. He's put them there. And it can be particularly rewarding if you go to have a look at them. Like a geographical pilgrimage. Now there's natural beauty right here even in a dowdy Irish village or a boring midland field. There's extraordinary beauty right here right now in this cafe. Look at your one with the legs smiling at me. The gift of knowing beauty is given to us if we travel or if we stay put. By the generosity of God it's given. And I'm suggesting that God has made natural beauty accessible to us even if we're stuck in a hospital bedroom or confined to our own home or stuck in an office at the Leinster Leader. And yet he's also put these scenic wonders here and there on the earth, and there's nothing wrong with going to see them, and in fact there's often a particular reward for us in experiencing them directly if we do go and look for them. I mean if we get up and make the effort to travel to the Niagara Falls, or the Zambezi, or the heart of a forest, or up a mountain, or by the riverside just up the road, or wherever. You'll find glory written in nature. Even though the glory of nature is all right here. So I'm wondering, is it possible, that just as he has placed natural wonders all over the earth, and just as he sometimes gives us a particular reward in beholding them for real when we go to see them, well, is it possible he's placing spritual wonders around the world too, just as spectacular as the ones you see with your eyes. Could there be mystical versions of the natural wonders we contemplate so readily? Could the blessed mother be appearing in Medjugorje as a spiritual gift to the world? When she appears somewhere could the very fact of her former presence leave a lingering mystical beauty ready to be savoured by any visitor? Each person feeling it in their own way just as no two persons feel exactly the same emotion in contemplating the Niagara Falls. Could she really have already appeared in La Salette, Beauraing, Pontmain, Banneux, Syracusa, Champion Wisconsin, Lourdes, Knock, the Rue De Bac, Fatima, Haarlem in the Netherlands, or Akita in Japan? Is this just wishful thinking? Can such things be?"
"What do you think of Medjugorje?" I asked.
"How do you mean?" sez he.
"Could God really be permitting the blessed mother to appear there in order to call human beings back to him?" I elaborated.
"Listen James," said Montgomery. "God is right here. He's wherever we choose to open our hearts to him. You don't have to go to Medjugorje to find him or the blessed mother."
I thought for a moment.
"Okay," I said. "But you know. There are scenes of natural beauty all over the world. Beautiful mountains. Waterfalls. Deserts. Oceans. Whatever. He's put them there. And it can be particularly rewarding if you go to have a look at them. Like a geographical pilgrimage. Now there's natural beauty right here even in a dowdy Irish village or a boring midland field. There's extraordinary beauty right here right now in this cafe. Look at your one with the legs smiling at me. The gift of knowing beauty is given to us if we travel or if we stay put. By the generosity of God it's given. And I'm suggesting that God has made natural beauty accessible to us even if we're stuck in a hospital bedroom or confined to our own home or stuck in an office at the Leinster Leader. And yet he's also put these scenic wonders here and there on the earth, and there's nothing wrong with going to see them, and in fact there's often a particular reward for us in experiencing them directly if we do go and look for them. I mean if we get up and make the effort to travel to the Niagara Falls, or the Zambezi, or the heart of a forest, or up a mountain, or by the riverside just up the road, or wherever. You'll find glory written in nature. Even though the glory of nature is all right here. So I'm wondering, is it possible, that just as he has placed natural wonders all over the earth, and just as he sometimes gives us a particular reward in beholding them for real when we go to see them, well, is it possible he's placing spritual wonders around the world too, just as spectacular as the ones you see with your eyes. Could there be mystical versions of the natural wonders we contemplate so readily? Could the blessed mother be appearing in Medjugorje as a spiritual gift to the world? When she appears somewhere could the very fact of her former presence leave a lingering mystical beauty ready to be savoured by any visitor? Each person feeling it in their own way just as no two persons feel exactly the same emotion in contemplating the Niagara Falls. Could she really have already appeared in La Salette, Beauraing, Pontmain, Banneux, Syracusa, Champion Wisconsin, Lourdes, Knock, the Rue De Bac, Fatima, Haarlem in the Netherlands, or Akita in Japan? Is this just wishful thinking? Can such things be?"
posted by heelers | 11:09 PM
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