Exhaling

I don’t think Gabrielle will mind if I use her last question to start a new discussion here. It’s worth a whole new post -

kt, a couple of things I’d like to ask you. I was wondering if you could explain a little bit about the spirit being vivisected from the soul, and also, is it possible to share with us a little more about the imagery and implications of the word “revenants” in your poem?

Let me start with “revenants,” as that is the easier of the two

The lines preceding are so dense, and they really need to be understood before we get to that particular word.

By cerement the conflagration’s fueled,
what light exposes, heat will cauterize.
Then healed, branded, by the King bejeweled,
freed, enslaved, like revenants we rise.

This fire through which we must pass is a kind of death, a death to self, and it is fueled by all the wrappings and trappings of the “old man” which we are shedding. The light of this Fire reveals to us our weakness, woundedness, sinfulness, and at the same time this woundedness is being healed. It is painful, but there is no other way. This, of course, is a reference to the dark night.

Once we have passed through this Flame, we are “healed” (of our woundedness and sin), “branded” (as belonging to Christ in an unmistakable and indelible way), “bejeweled” (as Christ adorns His spouse with every virtue and grace), “freed” (of our sin and woundedness), “enslaved” (to Love, as our wills are no longer our own and we belong wholly to Him), and we return to life wholly transformed, wholly spiritual.

We have gone through this total self-emptying, this kenosis, this death, and we rise from the ashes (like the Phoenix), aflame and renewed.

As for vivisecting…
On one level, we can say that this little death feels as if the soul is being wrenched from the spirit, or as if there is a “disconnect” between the mind and the soul. The dark night is a painful separating of self from self, of the selfward self from the true self.

But there is a d & m in this topic, and I would like to explore this idea with you - that the human person is a trichotomy of body - soul - spirit, much like the universe is space - matter - time. I would reference St. Paul and Edith Stein here (and perhaps I will add some links when I have a longer minute), but I’m hoping someone more astute than I (Father? Deacon? We need some help here.) can give a better theological explanation. I’ve said too much already.