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The Sublimity of the Delicate Arch and Other Holy Moments in Time
Christ changes lives.
Cole F. Watson
August 24, 2023
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3R Thursday is a newsletter published every Thursday that contains ruminations, reflections, and readings to encourage Christians in the pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.
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3R Thursday: The Sublimity of the Delicate Arch and Other Holy Moments in Time
Rumination
This week’s rumination comes from That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. Here, one of the protagonists, Jane, is confronted with the deeper reality she has been searching for while attempting to ignore it throughout the entire book.
What awaited her there was serious to the degree of sorrow and beyond. There was no form nor sound. The mould under the bushes, the moss on the path, and the little brick border, were not visibly changed.
But they were changed. A boundary had been crossed. She had come into a world, or into a Person, or into the presence of a Person. Some thing expectant, patient, inexorable, met her with no veil or protection between. In the closeness of that contact she perceived at once that the Director's words had been entirely misleading. This demand which now pressed upon her was not, even by analogy, like any other demand. It was the origin of all right demands and contained them. In its light you could understand them; but from them you could know nothing of it.
There was nothing, and never had been anything, like this. And now there was nothing except this. Yet also, everything had been like this; only by being like this had anything existed. In this height and depth and breadth the little idea of herself which she had hitherto called ‘me' dropped down and vanished, unfluttering, into bottomless distance, like a bird in a space without air. The name ‘me’ was the name of a being whose existence she had never suspected, a being that did not yet fully exist but which was demanded. It was a person (not the person she had thought), yet also a thing, a made thing, made to please Another and in Him to please all others, a thing being made at this very moment, without its choice, in a shape it had never dreamed of. And the making went on amidst a kind of splendour or sorrow or both, whereof she could not tell whether it was in the moulding hands or in the kneaded lump.
Words take too long. To be aware of all this and to know that it had already gone made one single experience. It was revealed only in its departure. The largest thing that had ever happened to her had, apparently, found room for itself in a moment of time too short to be called time at all. Her hand closed on nothing but a memory.
Reflection
Faith is at the heart of this passage. It reminds me of Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Faith is an intimate journey, often emerging from unexpected moments and experiences. In literature, moments of profound realization, such as the one depicted above often mirror the moments of spiritual awakening. These are the moments where we cross a boundary from the known to the unknown, discovering a deeper reality that enables us to transcend time while being confined by time at the same time. For Christians, this reality is found through faith in Jesus Christ.
Perhaps one of the most dramatic examples of a spiritual awakening in the Bible is Saul's conversion on the Road to Damascus. Saul, a fervent persecutor of early Christians, is struck blind by a brilliant light and hears the voice of Jesus asking, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4). This profound encounter not only leads to his physical blindness but also to a deep spiritual insight. When his sight is restored three days later, Saul is a changed man, later known as Paul, who becomes one of the most ardent apostles of Christ.
Saul’s transformation is not just a change of heart; it's a faithful existential overhaul. He experiences a spiritual epiphany akin Jane. Both undergo an abrupt confrontation with a deeper reality that reshapes their understanding of themselves and their place in the world. It's a humbling realization of one's smallness in the vast tapestry of existence, coupled with the recognition of a divine purpose. Suffice it to say that Christ changes lives.
For me, it was standing underneath the Delicate Arch. Pure awe and wonder struck me in a single moment. The Ideal became the Real. The Unknown became Known. The Word became Flesh (John 1).
That moment set me on a different road. A different destination with unwavering faith. Yet God knew it the whole time. Christ changes lives.
What’s your “Delicate Arch” moment? What Holy Moments have you experienced? Feel free to reflect on these questions or reply to this email!
Thank you for reading.
I’ll see you next Thursday for 3R Thursday.
Blessings,
CFW
Reading
Open to suggestions! Looking for old works of Christian Philosophy/Theology.
This week’s 3R Thursday is presented by Rise & Build Academy.
If you know of a 10-12th grade student that is interested in law, I am teaching a class this fall entitled FOUNDATIONS OF LAW FROM A CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW.
More information can be found at Rise & Build Academy.
The introductory lecture can be found here.
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