The Divine Comedy: Week 47, The Love That Moves the Sun and the Other Stars

In the final moments of The Divine Comedy the Pilgrim looks upon God, which he sees as a great circle of light. And beholding God, he ponders a question:

so did I strive with this new mystery:
I yearned to know how could our image fit
into that circle, how could it conform...

How can we participate in the Life of God, how can we be a part of the Light?

But the Pilgrim's intellect is thwarted by the mystery:

but my own wings could not take me so high...

And then, a revelation, a final grace! The Pilgrim's sight is cleared and he is given his answer in the final lines of the poem. The ending of The Divine Comedy:

then a great flash of understanding struck
my mind, and suddenly its wish was granted.

At this point power failed high fantasy
but, like a wheel in perfect balance turning,
I felt my will and my desire impelled

by the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.

How can we conform to the Light? By having both our will and desire impelled by the Love that moves the sun and the stars.

This is Dante's mystical vision, the theology he has been expounding for the entire Comedy. All the movement in creation, especially the movement of our hearts and minds, is an expression of our desire for God. All of creation moves because it is restlessly searching and longing for God. Love moves the sun and the stars. Love moves the rose and the rain. Love moves the breeze and the kiss. And union with God happens when our will and desire, when all of our movements, become united with the Source of Love, where God's love is my love and my love is God's love.

Love is all around us, moving the stars, flowers, rain, and your heart and mind, drawing all things toward Itself. Seeking, seeing, and conforming to this Love is the great adventure of life and the message of The Divine Comedy.