The Weight of Glory

If my dorm were to burn down tonight, the first thing I would grab on my way out would be my sketch book. The sketches I have put into those pages are my most cherished possessions. It is not easy to quantify my attachment. It is not that I have spent so much time on these sketches as if it would be a shame to have that effort wasted, because many of these are quick sketches. I value these quick sketches because they are brief glimpses of how I see the world.

I confess that whether my sketches turn out the way I wanted it to, the way I had envisioned it, can determine how I feel on a particular day. So my sketches bear a lot responsibility. They bear the weight of my glory, as it were.

But if I think of myself as a work of art, I realize how ludicrous it is to take pride in myself. I am entirely the work of my artist. C.S. Lewis talks about this, saying that the weight of glory is, “a load so heavy that only humility can carry it.” This resonates with the Rule of St. Benedict from the 6th century which outlines the qualities needed in an abbot. The most important virtue in an abbot, according to Benedict, is not devotion to doctrine or immersion in the scripture (though they are important), but total humility because of the responsibility that an abbot has over his abbey. So, on a smaller scale are we.

So we are deeply valued and loved, as outpourings of God’s vision, as his art. But as art we seek glory only for our artist, to whom all glory is due.