Robert Browning

The first week of class is in the books, and cross-curriculum connections are already being created. As Mary noted in class the other day, in Nature and History of Language we recently read Plato's thoughts on names, words, and the reality that surrounds these symbols. Our discussion in class the other day helped me better understand Plato's thoughts. The ideal reality, whatever that may be, is in our minds or subcounscious and the manifestations of that ideal are what we experience. Apparently, some manifestations are more like the ideal than others. That's all starting to make sense.

We talked the other day about how the ideal-manifestation idea can be found in Scripture. My mind went to a passage like I Corinthians 13 - the love chapter. My brothers and I used to have to write this chapter out when we got in trouble in our childhood years, so it is near and dear to me. I've come to realize though that the love, or charity, described in these verses is a perfect love that I don't think we, as fallen beings, can fully and perfectly achieve. It's an ideal form of love - like the love God exhibits towards us - that we work toward. As we mature, our manifestations of this love may become closer and closer to the ideal, but I don't think we will ever nail it down.

That strive for personal betterment in love can be applied to all sorts of Biblical themes and aspects of our lives. The 19th century British poet Robert Browning had an interesting view of this strive for perfection. His dramatic monologue "Andrea del Sarto" is about a Renaissance artist who has mastered technique; he is a perfect painter, as far as mechanics go. However, he lacks the spiritual touch to his artwork; he has no soul - so to speak. Browning implies that if we could create an ideal world, then we would have nothing to strive for - we would become stagnant. This concept is the philosophy of the imperfect, and it makes a lot of since. If we could create the ideal reality then we wouldn't need God or his salvation. It's the gap between the ideal and the manifestation that reminds us there is a perfection to strive for; it's why we need the Savior to bridge that gap. It's why the Word became flesh.

That's cool. See you in class...

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?"
- Robert Browning