fearful symmetry

"It has made me grasp as never before that God has an inner strategic (as distinct from tactical) purpose for His creation, thereby enabling me to see through the Theater of the Absurd, which is what life seems to be, and into the Theater of Fearful Symmetry, which is what it is. Thus reality sorts itself out, like film coming into sync, and everything that exists, from the tiniest atom to the illimitable universe in which our tiny earth revolves, everything that happens, from the most trivial event to the most seemingly momentous, makes one pattern, tells one story, is comprehended in one prayer: Thy will be done."

(Malcolm Muggeridge, 'Afterword' to A Third Testament)



Being much too inclined to finding pattern where others might see none, I find the thought of the universe as a Theatre of Fearful Symmetry designed to fulfil the will of God perhaps a little too comfortable, too convenient, for me not to distrust. But an unquestioned rejection of what is most congenial to us is possibly just as foolish as its unquestioned acceptance - so just because I personally find the idea of a Grand Narrative that encompasses the whole of history very attractive indeed, is no good reason to reject the idea without prior examination.
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