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| Graphic by Steve Johnson on Unsplash |
In past eras, people had the mindset whereby they were not masters but participants in the world, that there were more dimensions to the world than the mere material that they could touch and see and exploit. Their understanding of reality was far broader than that within modern "advanced" mentality. This is just one more example of how humankind can lose the thread over time, so that the garment of civilisation falls apart. This has been seen in the collapse of the Roman empire and the ensuing Dark Ages, with the devastating wars after the Reformation, in Marxist states, and in the stultifying impact of Wokeism.
In brief, the worldview of people past and present had and has significance as to the nature of the human person and how we should live.
In a recent post on his Dreher's Diary blog (paywalled), author and cultural observer Rod Dreher delves into value of worldview that incorporates enchantment, by which he means the world is "charged with spiritual force and pregnant with ultimate meaning—because of the Incarnation".
He quotes theologian Hans Boersma, who cites the state of mind of the Church fathers and medieval theologians:
The supernatural was not a distinct or separate realm of being that superimposed itself onto an independent and autonomous realm of nature. Instead, the supernatural was simply the divine means to bring created realities of time and space to their appointed end in Christ. Therefore, created realities participated in the heavenly mystery of Christ as their sacramental reality. Access to truth means sacramental participation in the unfathomable mystery of Christ.
Unlike today, it was a matter of participating in the truth, which meant "to be mastered by it rather than mastering it". That way of living with truth involves being open to the experience of "enchantment".
How the world is “enchanted”, that is, "charged with spiritual force and [...] meaning", is explored in Boersma's book, Heavenly Participation: The Weaving Of A Sacramental Tapestry (2011).
To pick up on that term, an appreciation of sacramental reality can transform a person's life through the acceptance that God is invisible but can communicate with humans through everything He has enabled in and through us, e.g. food, music, work, family life, friendship, the natural world, our intellectual endeavours.
"Sacramental or Scientistic?" is the title of an article on a website of a Catholic university. The article features some thoughts of the wise on what we call enchantment, which is to be distinguished from pantheism:
Richard Wagamese (1955–2017) is a beloved writer from Wabaseemoong First Nation (in current-day Canada). His life was transformed by returning to his Ojibwe family and culture after being separated from them for most of his young life. In his final book Embers, he shares meditations, reflections, and prayers that came to him during times of ritual and morning silence. He writes:
Remember. Remember that Creator is the wind on my face, the rain in my hair, the sun that warms me. Creator is the trees, rocks, grasses, the majesty of the sky and the intense mystery of the universe. Creator is the infant who giggles at me in the grocery line, the beggar who reminds me how rich I really am, the idea that fires my most brilliant moment, the feeling that fuels my most loving act and the part of me that yearns for that feeling again and again. Whatever ceremony, ritual, meditation, song, thought or action it takes to reconnect to that feeling is what I need to do today. . . Remember.
Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh (died January 22, 2022) steps into the Christian realm:
If Christ is the body of God, which he is, then the bread he offers is also the body of the cosmos. Look deeply and you notice the sunshine in the bread, the blue sky in the bread, the cloud and the great earth in the bread. . . . The whole cosmos has come together in order to bring to you this piece of bread. Eat it in such a way that you become alive, truly alive. Eat in such a way that the Holy Spirit becomes an energy within you and then the piece of bread that Jesus gives you will stop being a simple idea, or a notion.
The late Christian writer Rachel Held Evans offers this perspective:
This is the purpose of the sacraments, of the Church—to help us see, to point to the bread and wine, the orchids and the food pantries, the post-funeral potlucks and the post-communion dance parties, and say: pay attention, this stuff matters; these things are holy.
We grow when we recognise that the world is an enchanted place. This can be expressed this way:
The Christian sacramental vision, the true sight given us by God, reveals the world and our path through it as adventurous, dangerous, beautiful, challenging, meaningful, momentous, mysterious, and ultimately all that our hearts ache for.
Apart from the touch of Christ, we are blind. We think we see, but our vision is distorted, and we mistake real things for unreal ones, and false things for true. We need to have our sight healed and restored. Those two blind men who called to Jesus were given a key piece of wisdom: the wisdom to know that they were blind. "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind” (John 9:39). What a good prayer to make along with those blind men to the Giver of all good gifts: “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”
The beauty of the visible world speaks of God’s power and goodness: “The heavens are telling the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). Visible things are signposts and roads that penetrate to invisible realities.
For Loraine MacKenzie Shepherd, "God [is] the hidden force that holds the universe together":
But it’s not just a centripetal force that holds everything in place. There is complexity and beauty to this force. Have you noticed that the spiral pattern is found in everything from a spinning galaxy to tornados to spiral vortex patterns from electron waves? You will find spiral patterns in seashells and pine cones, fiddleheads and flowers. Scientists have determined that this spiral pattern best allows for both growth and stability—two forces that are essential for life. . . . God’s signature imprinted on the universe.
However, beyond God sustaining us within the universe, God is active in our lives, individually and as a community/society. The scientistic, materialistic and self-absorbed worldview of people in large parts of the world—not everywhere, fortunately—makes it difficult for them, because of their impaired vision, to accept that God shapes and reshapes our lives, drawing us to Him should we accept the invitation.
We of the "developed" world would do well to take note of the spiritual depth of our forebears and countercultural contemporaries. The Russian novel Laurus (2016), which made quite a splash in the West, aimed to capture the sentiments of 15th Century Russians, and in doing so, brings to life what it means to be alert to God at work in human affairs:
And everyone was surprised at what had happened and they praised God in heaven and His earthly oil lamp, Laurus.
Or this:
. . . just as people suddenly awaken on a lovely day, see the sun is already high, contemplate its glints fluttering on the floor and the silver of a cobweb in a sunbeam, and weep tears of gratitude.
Or this:
O friend, I do not question the necessity of time. We simply need to remember that only the material world needs time.
The novel has a prologue, which includes this exchange:
So why did you choose medieval history?
It's hard to say... Maybe because historians in the Middle Ages were unlike historians these days. They always look for moral reasons as an explanation for historical events. It's like they didn't notice the direct connection between events. Or didn't attach much significance to it.
But how can you explain the world without seeing the connections? said Alexandra, surprised.
They were looking above the everyday and seeing higher connections. Besides, time connected all events, even though people didn't consider that connection reliable.
If we are wise, each of us can enjoy the multiple dimensions of our life, our world, not looking for reassurance alone—though spiritual awareness offers that to us—but acknowledging the foundation of reality.
Ω Delve deeper into the nature of our enchanted existence through the useful website here.
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