Ralph Wood on "Holy Time"

I am attending the Trinity Arts Conference at the University of Dallas this weekend. I listened to Ralph Wood, professor of literature and theology at Baylor, speak about how the Christian story redefines beauty (an element, by the way, that often gets less press in Western churches compared to truth and goodness).

This afternoon, when Wood showed us the Grunewald painting above, someone made a remark about John the Baptist (on the right, pointing) being present in it. I appreciated Wood's response: "Holy time is not chronological time." Wood had just finished talking about the importance of the church calendar to our lives.

Here are some musings based on what Wood said: We need a way of shaping our view of time that is free from the demands of the fiscal year, work year, etc. In the end, what we do in worship is "useless" according to the world's (I mean world in the way John the Revelator used it) understanding. We need something to remind us that work and acquiring "stuff"--dare I say, even acquiring knowledge--is not our ultimate end. We need something to remind us that our Ultimate End is the enjoyment of God--the beatific vision.