What St. Augustine characterized as original sin, I prefer to think of as original creativity.  The creation story of our fall from grace is in effect a blessing of free will from God and a yearning for our return.  For me, the story’s central character of Eve represents the intuitive nature of women and the inherent gifts they possess that by nature take them closer to the Godhead.

God is not a puppeteer.  Humankind has been granted the greatest gift of free will from the creator so that they in turn are empowered to create.  As for me, the garden represents the way of stasis –  harmonic union yes – but somehow flat in its mythic presentation.  With free will comes chaos and disturbance, yet opportunity.  We see this in the poetic form of Apple Computer’s logotype, the representative fruit with a bite taken from it in the intentional act of breaking established rules.

Refreshing commentary on free will comes from theologian and priest Matthew Fox in his book, Creativity.  “The Jewish Kabbalah instructs us that ‘the fierce power of imagination is a gift from God.’  Chaos is a prelude to creativity.  Artists wrestle with chaos.”

It is in the dance of the creative act that we are brought home to glimpse the garden.  Rick Danko of The Band sang, “Life is a carnival,” and thirteenth century mystic Meister Eckhart astutely posited, “God is delighted to watch your soul enlarge.”

The Phos Hilaron prayer manifests itself in art.  When two thousand years ago family members dared to “draw God” in the catacombs, they defied a principal commandment and were moved to render beauty’s relationship with the divine.  To honor their departed loved ones, these early faithful had to paint, and they drew forms that burned within, their passion undeniable.

God is present in great art, drawing upon the existential fire which compels our most talented souls to create.  Their subject matter might be considered profane by some, yet the expressive spark honors God within, pointing these artists toward transcendence.  Consider this thread – one might call it an arc – stretching from initial impulses thousands of years ago to render the divine, connecting us to the masterpieces of the early twentieth century, the modernity of Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Mario Sironi and their contemporaries.  The genius of their line work hearkens to those magnificently pure illustrations adorning catacomb walls along Rome’s Appian Way.

We live in a frenetic time, bombarded by stimuli.  The simple, ancient prayer of Phos Hilaron is ultimately about the light.  We must see the light through the cobwebs of tradition and our own preconceived notions.

Bathe in the light.  Surrender to the profound message of hope for ongoing creation.  Allow the aspects of phos (light) and hilaron (gladness) to overtake you.

I caught the end of the movie “Sideways” the other night.  I guess most people recall the humor of it and all that talk about wine.  I liked the protagonist Miles’ obsession with Chateau Cheval Blanc, a bottle of which he was saving for the perfect occasion.  Morose upon receiving the sudden news of his ex-wife’s pregnancy by way of her new husband, that occasion became a burger & onion rings in a fast food joint.  Yet even in that forlorn circumstance, Miles’ beloved vintage 1961 Cheval Blanc was savored to every last drop in its perfection.

Plato saw this devotion to the Ultimate, the One as “heavenly eros,” humanity’s highest expression of perfection.  There is something to be admired in our exercise of stretching to the Ultimate.  Beauty is in many ways what we have to offer the Godhead.

There was a famous restaurant critic in New Orleans during the sixties, seventies and eighties – Richard Colin.  He & his wife Rima decorated the New Orleans firmament of food with elegant words of discriminating praise.  Richard called the finest entrées lovingly prepared in New Orleans best restaurant kitchens as examples of a “platonic dish.”  Chefs poured everything they had into their foods in order to earn such a designation from Richard & Rima Colin.

Perhaps God rejoices in our devotion to earthly delights.