It is one of the hundred answers to the fugitive perversion of modern
“force” that the promptest and boldest agencies are also the most fragile or full of sensibility. The swiftest things are the softest things. A bird
is active, because a bird is soft. A stone is helpless, because a stone is hard. The stone must by its own nature go downwards, because hardness is
weakness. The bird can of its nature go upwards, because fragility is force. In perfect force there is a kind of frivolity, an airiness that can
maintain itself in the air. Modern investigators of miraculous history have solemnly admitted that a characteristic of the great saints is their
power of “levitation.” They might go further; a characteristic of the great saints is their power of levity. Angels can fly because they can
take themselves lightly. This has been always the instinct of Christendom, and especially the instinct of Christian art. Remember how Fra Angelico
represented all his angels, not only as birds, but almost as butterflies.
Orthodoxy, first published in 1908, by G. K. Chesterton, is in the public domain, and available from Project Gutenberg. The previous post in this series is here. Thanks for reading! Read Chesterton.
Musings on science, the Bible, and fantastic literature (and sometimes basketball and other stuff).
God speaks to us through the Bible and the findings of science, and we should listen to both types of revelation.
The title is from Psalm 84:11.
The Wikipedia is usually a pretty good reference. I mostly use the World English Bible (WEB), because it is public domain. I am grateful.
License
I have written an e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which is free to anyone. To download that book, in several formats, go here.
The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Excerpts from Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton, 47
Labels:
art,
Chesterton,
G. K. Chesterton,
Orthodoxy,
strength,
Weakness
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