ST ATHANASIUS
(c. 293 AD – 373)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made."
In these words John the theologian teaches that nothing exists or remains in being except in and through the Word.
Think of a musician tuning a lyre…. So the wisdom of God holds the world like a lyre… and regulates all creatures to produce the beauty and harmony of a single, well-ordered universe.
To illustrate this profound mystery, let us take the example of a choir of many singers. A choir is composed of a variety of men, women and children, of both old and young. Under the direction of one conductor, each sings in the way that is natural for him: men with men’s voices, boys with boys’ voices, old people with old voices, young people with young voices. Yet all of them produce a single harmony.
Or consider the example of our soul. It moves our senses according to their several functions so that in the presence of a single object they all act simultaneously: the eye sees, the ear hears, the hand touches, the nose smells, the tongue tastes… the feet walk.
Although this is only a poor comparison, it gives some idea of how the whole universe is governed. The Word of God has but to give a gesture of command and everything falls into place; each creature performs its own proper function, and all together constitute one single harmonious order.
