“The imagination is fueled most powerfully by beauty and suffering, which rivet our attention like few other things; but paradoxically, the reality of God is demonstrated most powerfully by beauty and suffering joined together at the crucifixion. . . . The cross was both an instrument of execution and also the bridge to divine love.”- Michael John Cusick
Michael John Cusick continues Chapter 10 of Sacred Attachment with an observation about the self-evident nature of beauty. Because beauty arrests our imagination with something we cannot ignore. Something that appeals to our senses and to our awareness of the present.
However, Michael John stresses, beauty isn’t the only dream catcher of the imagination. For suffering often stops us in our tracks, demanding our attention in similar fashion. Hence, Simone Weil noted that only two things pierce the human heart: beauty and affliction.
But when ordinary suffering accumulates, the author observes, the low-grade fever of painful disappointment gradually rises to a more potent disease. And a ‘cure’ that requires distraction, escape, pleasure, comfort, and relief. As a result, we seek out places, opportunities, relationships, and recreation. All in an attempt to provide what we lack in longing to feel seen soothed, safe, and secure.
Above all, harnessed solely to our suffering, our imagination operates to produce counterfeits and fantasies. All inferior versions of what God created us to experience and enjoy.
In conclusion, Michel John comments on how Christ’s crucifixion most powerfully joins beauty and suffering together. Hence, the author explains:
“Where the cross of Christ holds both brutality and sacrifice, injustice and grace, the fulfillment of the Law through the power of love surrendered. The cross was both an instrument of execution and also the bridge to divine love. Your imagination allows you to grasp both of these truths at once. That’s part of its power. But where your imagination takes you depends on where you want to go.”
Today’s question: How do you respond to Simone Weil’s thoughts on beauty and suffering? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Spiritual imagination activation”