Reflections of Divine Unity and Variety
in the Sea
There is a conception of the Universe
that regards God as its exemplary cause, as an infinitely beautiful Being reflected in a thousand ways in all the other beings
He created, so that no being exists which in one way or another is not a
reflection of the uncreated beauty of God. The divine Beauty is reflected above
all in the hierarchical and harmonic ensemble of all these beings. In a certain
sense, then, there is no better way to know the infinite and uncreated beauty
of God than by examining the finite and created beauty of the Universe.
Let us consider, for example, the
beauty of the sea.
One of the first elements of the sea's
grandeur is its unity. The oceans of the Earth flow one into the other and form
a mass of water that encompasses the entire globe. Among the most pleasant
meditations we can make at any seashore, while filling our gaze with the liquid
mass stretching before us to the horizon, is to recall that this expanse of
water does not end there. Beyond the horizon are successive immensities that
form a single great immensity that is the sea -- the sea that moves, rolls, and
plays over the entire face of the Earth.
While the sea displays this splendid
unity, yet how much variety we can observe there!
At one moment it is meek and serene,
satisfying our soul's every desire for peace, tranquility, quiet. Then it moves
with discretion and suavity, forming wavelets that play upon its surface,
making us smile and relaxing our spirits with thoughts of the amenable and
delightful realities of life. Finally, it shows itself majestic and ferocious,
raising itself up in sublime movements, rushing violently against towering
rocks, hurling unfathomable volumes of water up from its abysses.
At times the sea comes ashore swiftly
and, so to speak, out of breath. At other its landward course is slow and lazy,
its waves languidly expending themselves upon the beach. At still other times
it appears so motionless, content, so to speak, at just seeing the land without
touching it.
So clear is the sea at times that our
eyes easily pierce its fluid depths. Then again it is dark, impenetrable,
profound, and mysterious.
Sometimes it murmurs like a soothing
caress, inviting us to rest. Or it may be but a sound in the background like
the oft-heard conversation of an old friend. Then, a bit later, it speaks to us
with the roar of a king desiring to impose his will upon all his subjects.
All of these diversities of the ocean
would have no cohesion or enchantment for us had they not the foundation of a
fixed, invariable, and imposing unity.
Unity and variety are thus manifest in
a creature that is ever within reach of our gaze, a splendid image of the
uncreated and spiritual beauty of God Our Lord.
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Excerpted [without the speaker's review,] from a talk given
by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira at the Carmelite Congress in