The Blazing Trinity

I saw three rings entwined–one composed of smooth gold as clear as crystal and hard as diamonds. The second a circlet of thorns. The third was a ring of fire. But in saying they were three rings entwined, I saw that they were also three rings interfused. The smooth gold as clear as crystal was infused with fire as steel is infused with fire in the forge. It was also infused with the circlet of thorns as if the thorns were not simply reflected there, but embedded in the heart of gold. Likewise the circlet of thorns was ablaze with fire, and as I watched I saw that the circlet of thorns was glorified as if made from solid, transparent gold as clear and hard as diamonds and studded with rubies that were globules of lava alive with flame. It was also true that the ring of fire was somehow hard and clear as the golden ring and the flames of fire took the form of flickering living thorns. The rubies which were globes of lava were also tender roses of red. To say that this was a still image would be a mistake. The rings were constantly spinning in and through one another as they were intertwined with a movement as subtle and organized and simple and yet as complex and beautiful and plain as the movements of the planets and the stars. Then I realized that the ring entwined were the rings of what I hesitate to call Love, for the word we use for this action and transaction of charity has become cheapened and vulgar, but I have no other words to say what motivated the circling of the rings and the power that radiated from them except to say that it was that Love “which moves the sun and all the other stars”. I knew then that this was something to behold and contemplate, and not a thing to be explained.