God doesn’t need to come down upon a mountain, for the mountain itself is the revelation. We only have to look at it and we will know how we should live. — John Moriarty
John Moriarty (1938-2007) was perhaps the closest thing Ireland had to a living breathing bard, embodying the old druidical wisdom but also completely immersed in the reality and challenge of the world as it is now. A philosopher and natural storyteller, his writing is deeply mythic, weaving together nuggets of wisdom from indigenous traditions around the world, all aimed at inviting us to reclaim the ways of knowing that have been lost with the arrival of our technologically-laden, profit-driven culture. We look at our computers and smartphones and MRI scanners and think we are so very advanced, but perhaps we are blind to so much that we have lost in the meantime. Moriarty was the kind of prophet who wanted us to remember.
He alludes to Mount Sinai when he flatly declares, “God doesn’t need to come down upon a mountain, for the mountain itself is the revelation.” How often do we cry for a vision, begging the Spirit for some sort of sign to direct our lives, ignoring the beautiful and wondrous “signs” that have been poured out all around us, if only we had eyes to see.
Like all Celts, Moriarty has no use for any kind of radical transcendentalism that insists on boxing God in “way up there.” To consign God to heaven is a subtle act of aggression against both God and the Earth, for it is a way of declaring these two are infinitely separate. Let’s turn that on its head: God is only “up there” to the extent that God is also “in here.” God is in our hearts, our minds, our bellies, our mountains, our clouds, our water, our wind.
All we need to do is look at the revelation that has already been given, but look at it with clear seeing and trusting attentiveness. We may need each other to complete our discernment, but the raw material of God’s call for us is not elsewhere. Every bush around us burns with divine love. It is ours to remember how to see.
Quotation Source: Moriarty, John. Nostos: An Autobiography (Kindle Edition, Location 8823).