Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Feathered Light
Here is something which happened recently as I walked in Golden Gate Park. It was totally unexpected, one of those "epiphanies" which cannot be arranged or foreseen:
I just happened to come along as someone was feeding pigeons
and sea gulls near the lake's edge. The sun just happened to be behind
them as they wheeled and circled in excitement to get at the food he was
flinging skyward. And--as I stood there, the light seemed literally to penetrate
their bodies, which became virtually translucent, as in paintings I
have seen, but something I have never witnessed in actuality. Ah, I thought, here it
is--feathered light, a moment which indeed reveals the holy spirit
descending. And it occurred to me that this was how the idea of angels having wings originated, as well as the image of their descending in streams of light from heaven. And I was so struck with awe that I didn't even try to make a poem about it--I just stood in humble silence before this wondrous phenomenon.
I have seen this "effect" before (the "Van Gogh principle?")--as when the
sun radiates the aspen or other leaves from behind, and when it does the
same for the leaves of the ice plants (the spears of green) or the grass
springing up- in their midst. At those times, the thing seen appears to be lit from within with divine radiance. But I had never seen this, the illuination of the sacred creature in motion. I felt deeply honored by this special and sudden revelation, which was for me a new experience, truly a "moment of enlightenment."
I just happened to come along as someone was feeding pigeons
and sea gulls near the lake's edge. The sun just happened to be behind
them as they wheeled and circled in excitement to get at the food he was
flinging skyward. And--as I stood there, the light seemed literally to penetrate
their bodies, which became virtually translucent, as in paintings I
have seen, but something I have never witnessed in actuality. Ah, I thought, here it
is--feathered light, a moment which indeed reveals the holy spirit
descending. And it occurred to me that this was how the idea of angels having wings originated, as well as the image of their descending in streams of light from heaven. And I was so struck with awe that I didn't even try to make a poem about it--I just stood in humble silence before this wondrous phenomenon.
I have seen this "effect" before (the "Van Gogh principle?")--as when the
sun radiates the aspen or other leaves from behind, and when it does the
same for the leaves of the ice plants (the spears of green) or the grass
springing up- in their midst. At those times, the thing seen appears to be lit from within with divine radiance. But I had never seen this, the illuination of the sacred creature in motion. I felt deeply honored by this special and sudden revelation, which was for me a new experience, truly a "moment of enlightenment."
