Isaiah 6

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Isaiah 6

Recounting visions is always such an interesting part of a sacred story.  There's a signal that goes off and suddenly every little word, every little detail, is presumed full of symbolic meaning, of some kind of secret decoder ring message and moral weight.

It makes me think of Julian of Norwich, whom the Catholic Church never got around to canonizing (I've always assuming because it was poorly timed with the Anglican split).  She's not like other visionaries, whom God or Mary or Jesus or other saints or all of the above visit over and over again with instructions and messages for the people of the world.  She had one vision relatively early in her life then spent the rest of it locked away as an anchoress, interpreting it diligently.

She spent her whole life on that one visionary dream.  Getting it down precisely in written and artistic form.  No doubt turning it over and over in her head until she was convinced that every little meaning had been made clear to her.  A puzzle worth spending her entire life riddling out.

It could take a lifetime to riddle out all the details of a vision.  It could take several, and not doubt this vision of Isaiah's has absorbed several scholars' lifetimes.  I should find their work - because I have no idea what to do with the six wings of the Seraphim - two to cover their faces, two to cover their feet, and two to do what wings are actually intended to do and help them hover.  There's something lovely about God's robe spreading over the Temple, but I'm not precisely sure what it means - we're all in the shadow of His wings comes to mind.  His honor on Earth is the Temple also.

It makes me think of a passage in a fantasy novel that I read today - where characters are telling each other's fortunes by the use of tarot cards.  I don't hold with fortune telling nonsense, but an artist friend of mine hoping to make some money by selling a deck she drew herself made the interesting observation that it's more a way to clarify your thoughts.  Each card can stand for many things - which on the surface may make it seem less credible.  But how you decide to interpret those cards shows how you are thinking and reacting to things in your life.  I can certainly imagine it doing that, even if it wouldn't tell you what is to come.

I wonder if visions like the one here or Julian's elaborate one are something like that - heavy with dozens of potential meanings.  Meant to therefore show us where we are in our relationship to God by which details catch our eye and hold our attention, what stories we end up writing to explain them, why we hold to one interpretation over another.

In this way, the same vision can tell each reader about their relationship with God, not simply the person receiving the vision.  Not all of the recognized visions follow this format, but I admit I find it fascinating.

Although I'm not sure I like what it might say about my current relationship with God that my first thought on hearing that the seraphim are covering their feet is that it was to conceal hoofs.