TODAY’S Advent Calendar continues a series of reflections on the kingdom of God. In this piece, Hildegard of Bingen, the twelfth century German mystic, provides inspiration to contemplate the relationship between the consummation of history (our “apocalyptic” vision) and justice.
This post is excerpted from A People’s History of Christianity.
Window 13
At the center of Hildegard of Bingen’s work was an apocalyptic vision—a view of the cosmos that unveiled the hidden dimensions of human history—and that called for a prophetic reordering of church and society.
Hildegard divided history into three ages represented, in order, by Eve, Mary, and a future female figure, the “bride of Christ,” a seer named Ecclesia. Eve represents creation and the painful rejection of creation’s promise; Mary symbolizes the new creation of humanity in Christ and the hope for a world of justice and peace; Ecclesia embodies the struggle toward the consummation of God’s desire for humanity. In a very real sense, God is the mother of history, who births redemption, justice, and virtue through an orderly process of human and divine activity. Hildegard referred to the cosmic unity as a “symphony.” Instead of depicting history as a line or the universe as a chain of being, she typically drew mandalas to represent the universe. To her, everything in the cosmos was related, a circle of connection.
Christians have most often depicted history as a line with a beginning and end - or the universe as a chain of being with a top and a bottom. Not Hildegard. She drew mandalas - complex circular patterns - to represent the universe. To her, everything in the cosmos was related, circles of connection between God and humanity and humanity and nature.
Hildegard’s vision was not pessimistic. Instead of consigning humanity to perpetual defeat until rescued by God, Hildegard saw history as spiraling ages of “justice and injustice, each with its own deformations or reforms, [that] would alternate” until its consummation in love. She described paradise as the time when “the whole world will exist in the full beauty of vitality and freshness”:
Then people will experience the justice that the world so sadly lacked. . . .All weapons manufactured for purposed of death and destruction will be forbidden and the only tools, devices, and machinery permitted will be those that serve cultivation of the land and truly useful to humankind.
Indeed, a prophetic vision - the hope of Isaiah for swords into plowshares.
Although few people today consider it, one’s understanding of cosmic history—one’s apocalyptic—has a direct impact on the practice of justice. For Hildegard, everything was connected in a single fabric, interwoven life that demanded a good life for all. A fractured vision of the cosmos leads to hopelessness and withdraw; a unified one empowers change.
from A People’s History of Christianity
Peace is the center of the Atom, the core
Of quiet within the storm. It is not
A cessation, a nothingness; more
The lightning in reverse is what
Reveals the light. It is the law that binds
The atom’s structure, ordering the dance
Of proton and electron, and that finds
Within the midst of flame and wind, the glance
In the still eye of the vast hurricane.
Peace is not placidity; peace is
The power to endure the megatron of pain
With joy, the silent thunder of release,
The ordering of Love. Peace is the atom’s start,
The primal image: God within the heart.
— Madeleine L’Engle
A Season of Gifts
The Cottage ADVENT CALENDAR is free and open to all. If you would like to financially contribute to this work, there are two special ways to support The Cottage this December.
1. Give a gift subscription of The Cottage to a friend! An entire year of encouragement, thoughtful essays on faith and culture, seasonal specials, monthly Zoom meeting access, and the Secret Garden private podcast.As a token of my appreciation, you will receive a free copy of Grateful when you give someone a YEAR gift subscription. After you subscribe, we’ll send you an email requesting the address where we can send your gift.
Offer good while supplies last (but I have plenty!). To activate this gift offer, click the “gift subscription” button below:
2. Sign yourself up for a membership or upgrade from free to a paid subscription to support my writing and the Cottage community. There are different levels of support — either monthly ($5 per month for as many months as you like) or yearly ($50). There is also a special level for cultivating members.
As a way to “pay it forward,” I will be giving 25% of ALL December receipts to the community outreach of Rising Hope Church, a wonderful mission-focused congregation that works for and among immigrants, low income families, the food insecure, and those without shelter in my neighborhood. To support the Cottage financially, click the “support” button below:
God of flood and fire,
calling us to turn
from dead halls
echoing with greed:
may the gift of your Spirit
come to us from another place,
burning with life and a hope
that will not be quenched.
— Steven Shakespeare
An Advent Event
Shane Claiborne has picked Freeing Jesus as the December book of the Red Letter Christian Book Club! Read the book and join us in conversation via ZOOM on December 19 at 7pm. This is a free event. Click here for the sign-up link.
PLEASE REMEMBER the people who have suffered great losses in the tornado outbreak in the mid-south, especially those in Kentucky, the state with the greatest loss of life. Hold them in prayer. And please donate to your denominational relief agency or other groups with strong local ties. If you are aware of a trustworthy effort in the area, feel free to list it in the comment section below. Also, please list any personal prayer requests you may have — for family or friends, for church or faith communities, for any connections you have to those in the impacted areas — that those of us here at the Cottage can lift up these concerns.
The eternal soul is continually birthed every moment from the heart of God and resides as a spark of light within the hearts of all. The cosmic symphony rejoices forever to behold such wonder.
Lutheran Disaster Response is a collaborative organization that provides assistance both short- and long-term. Click US Tornadoes at www.ELCA.org