A Divine Lent #34: I shall explain the logical necessity of what perplexes you

A daily reflection during Lent on Dante's The Divine Comedy.

Dante is on his own in Canto 28 of Purgatory.  Virgil and Statius are still present, but silent.  Dante is choosing his own path, and only late in the canto is it revealed that Virgil and Statius are following him.  Virgil told Dante at the end of the last canto that his is now his own guide, and he should follow his own instincts.

Doing so, Dante is exploring the Earthly Paradise, the Garden of Eden.  Dante the author is creating an interesting nested symmetry here.  The travelers have undergone a long journey only to arrive at the mythical birthplace of humankind.  At another level, Dante began his journey in Canto 1 of Inferno in a dark wood, unclear of how he arrived.  He now describes his exploring of Eden similarly.

By now, although my steps were slow, I found

myself so deep within the ancient wood

I could not see the place where I came in.

and suddenly, I saw blocking my way

a stream whose little waves kept pushing back,

leftwards, the grass that grew along its bank.

In the dark wood at the opening of the Comedy, Dante's way was blocked by a She-Wolf.  Now his way is blocked by a stream.  Gone though is the panic Dante previously exhibited toward the unknown.  His tone here is one of wonderment followed by a desire to cross the stream rather than retreat.  Confident that his desire is pure, Dante is a new person; one might say born-again.  The symmetry is a good lesson to examine my own desires for purity; the pursuit of purity, or the purging of self-interest, gives confidence to faith.

The travelers see a lady on the opposite side of the stream.  In a later canto, Dante reveals her name Matelda.  Matelda expects that the pilgrims have questions.

"This place is new to each of you," she said,

"it could be that you find yourself amazed,

perplexed to see me smiling in this place

once chosen as the cradle of mankind."

I like that such openness to and encouragement of questions is present in this Eden.  Paradise is not a take it or leave it setting but one where engagement and curiosity are welcomed.  Dante, for all his progress, asks a bizarre question:  how can there be wind and water here if we are above the storms and rain on earth?  Of all the questions, that's the most important?  There is no judgement, though, in Matelda.

She said, "I shall explain the logical

necessity of what perplexes you,

and thus remove what has obscured your mind.

Matelda sees the question as an obstacle to Dante's further progress.  Therefore she is glad to answer him and provide additional information.  Rather than just say, "Anything is possible with God," she explains in details the mechanics emanating from the Prime Mover.  She tells how the wind is generated, how that creates sound within the woodlands, how the plants here relate to seedlings down below, the source of the stream, the fact that there is a second stream, and the divine purpose of those streams.  Matelda marvels in the creation of it all and hopes that these newcomers will marvel as well.  She is sharing a passion not one piece of information.  If only I could see every question as Matelda does, an opportunity to share a passion rather than give the most efficient answer.

This Lent, may we welcome all questions and share passions rather than mere answers to have our own foretaste of paradise.