Status Updates From The Divine Comedy: Inferno;...

OMG. So happy I stayed strong to the finish on this one!

Closing The Divine Comedy, I couldn’t help thinking about Moses on Sinai. Moses longs to see God’s glory but is told no one can see God’s face and live. Dante imagines that same longing finally fulfilled—not because humanity has become greater, but because grace has made the Beatific Vision possible. Both men reach the same conclusion: the closer you come to God, the less words are able to follow.

Paradiso XXXII feels like Dante stepping back to admire the whole tapestry. Bernard shows him that Heaven isn’t a collection of isolated heroes but one continuous story—from Eve to Mary, from Abraham to the apostles—all centered on Christ. The closer Dante gets to the end, the less the poem is about individual lives and the more it’s about how every life fits into a greater design.

Paradiso XXXI contains one of the quietest and most beautiful moments in the Comedy. Dante turns to thank Beatrice, only to find that she has already returned to her place in the Celestial Rose. She doesn’t cling to being his guide and simply smiles from afar. The best mentors don’t make themselves the destination; they prepare us to keep going without them.

Paradiso XXX feels like stepping into eternity. Dante first sees a river of light, only to realize it is actually the communion of saints arranged as the breathtaking Celestial Rose. My favorite idea is that Heaven doesn’t change, Dante’s vision does. The closer he draws to God, the more reality comes into focus.