Saturday, March 3, 2012

Galileo Galilei and God

 
Oh Galileo! Did you not "make waves?"
The Catholic Church would burn you at the stake.
But you profoundly studied 'til your grave
Though fearful cardinals would your soul to break.
A physicist! The foremost of the times!
You disobeyed, like Paul, and traveled to
Old Tuscany to preach the heavens' rhymes
In concepts blasphemous to monkish "truth."
Those scribes, those pharisees in spirit like
The same who crucified The Son of Man
Could never justify their devilish strike
Against God's great astronomer and stand.
The One whose physics tamed The Galilee*
Displaced the carnal church through Galilei.**

Jesus with fishermen ; Raphael


Sonnet inspired by: http://tinyurl.com/6m8y5ae



*Many of Christ's greatest miracles happened at or around the Lake of Galilee: feeding the 5,000, calming the storm that frightened the disciples, walking on the water to Peter who lost faith and was sinking. Here he taught the disciples to be "fishers of men."


                                       **Galileo's last name.

Lithograph of the lake and fishermen 1890-1900