Light On Dark Water

Oceanic

…I suddenly thought how there comes a time in one's religious experience when nothing can be added to, or subtracted from, what one understands as "belief." There it is, I tell myself, my 'belief,' minuscule though it may be in some eyes, it is oceanic in mine.

—Ronald Blythe, Out of the Valley

I'm not entirely sure what Blythe means here, and therefore not sure that my understanding is what he intended, but it struck me immediately as a description of my faith. It's not that I think I have nothing more to learn or am not always developing in my understanding of what I believe, but that it has some of the characteristics of an object: it's a single unified thing, which can be explored infinitely but which does not itself change.

Minuscule: I lead an ordinary life with ordinary virtues and vices; I don't spend a lot of time studying theology; my devotions are pretty routine and certainly not extravagant; I'm unnoticed in my parish. But yet

Oceanic: the faith is everything to me. It's the medium in which I exist and by which I exist; in one sense I would be dead without it. And it is incomprehensibly huge.

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14 responses to “Oceanic”

  1. Janet

    And a bit salty.
    AMDG

    Reply
  2. Mac

    heh

    Reply
  3. Janet

    Well it is a little funny, but it’s also a little deep, like the ocean. Although, I guess the ocean is a lot deep.
    AMDG

    Reply
  4. Mac

    A lot salty, too, although not as salty as deep.
    I did know what you meant, btw, or at least I think I did, but funny took precedence.

    Reply
  5. Janet

    I know. With me it almost always does, even when it shouldn’t.
    AMDG

    Reply
  6. Rob G

    I think I somewhat understand what Blythe is getting at. Our faith is from one angle a small thing, a sort of irreducible nub “no bigger than a man’s hand.” But from another angle it’s a huge thing because on this little nub hangs everything else.

    Reply
  7. Mac

    That works, too.

    Reply
  8. Marianne

    Anyone else see in “oceanic” a swept-away, almost scary, meaning? Not that that is Blythe’s take. Or is it? I haven’t read anything by him.

    Reply
  9. Mac

    The actual ocean can certainly be that way, but I didn’t think of it in this context. I’m pretty sure Blythe meant to be suggesting size and all-encompassing-ness.

    Reply
  10. grumpy about to go to Spain

    ‘salty’ – Janet, this blog has several in house theologians!

    Reply
  11. grumpy about to go to Spain

    Christopher Derrick wrote a book called ‘That Strange Divine Sea’. It is the best image for the C faith.
    My bk ‘The Comedy of Revelation’ is a prologue on Aristophanes, about five chapters on the Bible, and a concluding one where I erm wrote theology. When I got to the last one I had the sensation I wasn’t swimming any more I was walking on the ground. It was a relief, but the bk was no good.

    Reply
  12. grumpy about to go to Spain

    I mean you have to be swimming all the time or the bk is no good. and swallowing salt water.

    Reply
  13. Mac

    That’s fascinating. No time to say more, as I’m just doing my morning check for spam before leaving for work, but if you get back here before you leave, best wishes for a rewarding journey.

    Reply
  14. Janet

    Yes, I will pray for you. I owe you a few.
    AMDG

    Reply

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