This essay is a continuation of one I wrote several weeks ago about spiritual interpretations of scripture and other sacred texts. Using the Life of St David (Dewi) written by Rhygyfarch in the late 11th century, I explored the honeycomb as a symbol for symbolism itself and discussed the way we internalise the life of saint to gain new perspectives on life. You can read that essay HERE. In this essay I explore the symbolic landscape in which the Life of David situates itself.
Many saints’ lives cross reference each other, inviting the reader to remember the larger story of God’s work, of which their saint is only one part. Rhygyfarch weaves threads from the lives of other Welsh and Irish saints into the life of David, grafting his story into a larger unfolding, a symbolic arena of sanctification. Internalising the perspectives of many different saints, our inner eyes are lifted above themselves into a more expansive vision.
We enter into an overarching meta-narrative, an ecosystem of symbolic stories supporting and enriching one another, expanding our perspective even further. Learning to see life from multiple perspectives enhances wisdom and invites insight, revealing possibilities inconceivable from our previous vantage point.
What perspective we take in any given moment depends on the situation we are in. Though you remain the same person, you likely have a different frame of mind at work than you do at home. We do not behave the same way in a crowd of strangers as we do with a group of intimate friends. In every sacred story we find three symbolic perspectives: the saint, their environment, and others they encounter. It is important we pay attention to all three.
Before Dewi was born, so the story goes, Patrick set out for Wales with the intention of establishing his church there. Upon his arrival, however, an angel appeared with a message. While the ground he was standing on was indeed holy, it was meant for another saint. The angel instructed Patrick to take up his mission in Ireland instead.
Another time, one of Dewi’s monks was ploughing the waves on the back of an angelic horse, travelling from Ireland to Wales. In the open water, he happened upon Brendan and his companions as they sang the mass around a fire on the back of a giant sea monster.
When Dewi’s life was coming to an end, an angel went through the whole of Britain and Ireland announcing to all the saints he had only one week to live. “Then, crowds of saints hastened from all sides to visit the holy father, just like bees that make their way to the hives at the approach of a storm.” (trans by Davies)
While every saint has their own story to tell, they are each part of the same hive. Just like honey bees, they work together in a harmonious dance, venturing out to collect nectar, returning home together as one. Each of their particular gifts is one cell in the honeycomb of wisdom. The wisdom of the saints is greater than any individual. In his institutes, Cassian shares a beautiful teaching from St Anthony about the importance of seeking wisdom from the perspective of many different people.
“The monk who, like a most prudent bee, is desirous of storing up spiritual honey must suck the flower of a particular virtue from those who possess it more intimately, and he must lay it up carefully in the vessel of his heart. He must not begrudge a person for what he has less of, but he must contemplate and eagerly gather up only the virtuousness that he possesses. For if we want to obtain all of them from a single individual, either examples will be hard to find or, indeed, there will be none that would be suitable for us to imitate.” (trans by Ramsey)
The communion of saints is a verdant orchard with many many beautiful and nourishing trees, overflowing with colourful fragrant flowers, bearing good fruit for the healing of the nations. However, as anyone who has studied the lives of the saints knows, one finds both virtue and vice within their pages. Therefore, we should learn from the bee who does not collect her nectar from only one flower but bounces around the orchard taking a little bit from each blossom, filling her heart with sweetness and sustenance.
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