A happy and blessed Easter to you all! Over the next 50 Days we will celebrate Christ’s resurrection and God conquering sin and death. My own reflections in the coming weeks are inspired by the artwork of my wife, Stella, and by our life in New Mexico. I am grateful to share this season with each of you.

In Paradiso, the final part of Dante’s masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, Dante has walked through the horrors of the Inferno, climbed up the mountain of Purgatorio, and now finds himself exploring Paradise with his lost love, Beatrice. In the first sphere of Paradise, Dante and Beatrice observe the moon and share a rather dense conversation on the nature of moon spots. What Dante learns from Beatrice is that God is the source of all light and as it flows from God to the stars, to the moon, and to us, each part of creation is unique and interacts with the light in wildly different but beautiful ways.

The diversity of the universe is a manifestation of divine creativity. Every light in the sky, every bird in the air, every person you meet is unique, but each shares the divine light of God. Our own creative endeavors mirror this relationship. When we paint, write, sing, dance, cook, or sew, each time it is singular but our own essence runs through it.

Of course, sharing our creativity means being vulnerable. It’s risky to give a piece of ourselves to others. But it is also essential. We can’t know each other without vulnerability. The divine light dancing through all of creation is an act of vulnerability: God drawing close to us. As Dante and Beatrice enter the first sphere of Paradise, Beatrice says to Dante, “Direct your mind to God in gratefulness.” During this Eastertide I want to direct my mind to God in gratefulness when I see the spots on the moon. I want to direct my mind to God in gratefulness when I see my wife Stella’s watercolor of the moon and those same spots. I want to direct my mind to God in gratefulness that each act of creation is an invitation into the vulnerability of God.

About the Painting
Mojave Moon
Watercolor on cotton
Stella Maria Baer

Learn more about Seth & Stella.