T
he world is charged with the
grandeur of God…” So runs a line
from Gerard Manley Hopkins, the
great Jesuit Victorian poet. Spring is
rapidly approaching, so it is a good
time to plan a curriculum with our
grand world itself as the text.
As much as might be learned from
formal education, even to the doctoral
level, there is much, much more to
be learned simply by contemplating
God’s grandeur in His creation.
Everything that exists came into being
by God’s Word, so logically speaking there is a theological
message in even the smallest material particle. Everything
has a great deal more to it than meets the human eye.
Seton students are competent grammarians; still even
they will find their brains in a twist when contemplating a
grammar beyond human language. Try this: God is the most
interesting Persons you will ever know! Absolutely true,
but human grammar does not quite get around the concept.
Even as mundane a construct as grammar can point to a
profound theology, since obviously our term for existence is
not adequate to describe the existence of God.
So it goes for absolutely everything in being. God said,
“Let there be duck-billed platypus” and that exceedingly
odd creature appeared. No one seems to have developed
a comprehensive theology for the platypus, but there is
certainly a divine message there pointing beyond the
creature to the Creator.
The most abstruse problems in Calculus and the most
esoteric reaches in Astrophysics still fall far short of the
divine equation, and it is certain that we can never fully
grasp the simple complexity that is God.
When pursuing higher education, it is all too easy to lose
oneself in an ivory tower. The importance of leaving the
tower and immersing oneself in “the grandeur of God” this
Spring season cannot be over-stated.
Every student should keep in mind that the most
interesting and most important lessons in life are to be
learned well outside the classroom, in contemplating what
God means by a supernova, or the Eucharist, or even a
duck-billed platypus!
Bob Wiesner
earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Christendom
College and his M.A. in Theological Studies from Maryknoll
School of Theology. His passions include classical music,
iconography and history.
BOB WIESNER
