tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85592332011-04-21T11:26:37.007-07:00Sebastian Mahfoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01351836443777444457noreply@blogger.comBlogger11100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8559233.post-1111982984141799332005-03-28T00:00:00.000-08:002005-03-27T20:58:34.440-08:00We see when we meet the inconstant the contrapasso of heaven, proving the idea that our state of being in life determines our state of being in the afterlife. In this case, those who broke their vows to God are assigned to this lowest of spheres, represented by the moon because of its changing nature. Not only are they here who were forcibly stripped away from their vows, such as Piccarda and Constance, but all souls who, as Ciardi notes, "offered up a vow of any sort and then failed to observe it strictly" (620). Now, this isn't a bad thing, of course, for as Piccarda explains, "the essence of this blessed state of being/ is to hold all our will within His will,/ whereby our wills are one and all-agreeing" (79-81). When Dante hears this, he understands that "everywhere/ in Heaven is Paradise, though the Perfect Grace/ does not rain down alike on all souls there" (88-90). Keeping one's promise to God is important and all the moreso when God calls us to it, but there are many ways to serve God, and all of these souls still have thrones in the Empyrean as we'll discover in the following canto.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.staleywise.com/collection/moon/moon_1_b.jpg" width="400" height="300"><br /><br />Dante's exhortation here is clear -- we should honor our word and use the power we have as agents of God's peace to grow closer to him every day as Blessed Ludovico of Casoria did when he had his mystical vision and devoted his life to the service of the poor and suffering where our faith might become "light in the darkness, help in sickness, blessing in tribulations, paradise in the crucifixion and life amid death" as we work to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood in the greater humanity created in God's image. This strengthening of community must be attended by a desire on the part of the individual for its good, and only through experience acting toward that one good, as Aristotle points out, will the desire for communal good convert intention into profitable action, for "to those who desire and act in accordance with a rational principle knowledge about such matters will be of great benefit" while those who flit from one passion to another, like these inconstant, then all the knowledge in the world will not help them.<br /><br />S.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8559233-111198298414179933?l=canto070.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Sebastian Mahfoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01351836443777444457noreply@blogger.com7