Hymns on Paradise - Part 2

Normally, when we speak of Paradise, it is in a quasi-dreamy mystical way. Seemingly, it relates to an elation of the emotions more than anything else. We speculate about the great love and awe we will experience when we finally reach the arms of our God. Some even tear up at the mention of Paradise, because they desire it so much and imagine the intense beauty and reunion that is there. Though sometimes there is talk of what our physical bodies will be like and what we’ll do, most of the time, when discussing Paradise in my experience, the talk has focused on the emotional experience of it.

However, St. Ephrem brings a different idea to the table of the experience of Paradise. Though he does reflect a lot on his own emotional responses to Paradise, in the end, he focuses on how entrance to Paradise comes from intellect. He says, “Through this gate of knowledge / the intellect enters in, / explores every kind of treasure, / brings out every kind of riches,” (16.3.9-12). It is not through some mystical, highly emotional experience that one gains the most from Paradise but rather through the use of intellect because the Tree of Knowledge stood, and still stands, as the gate to Paradise. “So . . . the Tree of Knowledge, / can, with its fruit, roll back / the cloud of ignorance, / so that eyes can recognize / the beauty / of that Tabernacle / hidden within,” (183.5.1-6). By coming through the Tree of Knowledge with intellect, we can fully enter into the mystery and beauty that is Paradise.