Water, Wood, And A Dove
Ordinary Time
Office of Readings · St. Ambrose, Treatise On the Mysteries
What did you see in the baptistry? Water certainly, but not water alone. You see the levites ministering there, the high priest asking questions and consecrating. First of all, the Apostle taught you that we must fix our eyes, not on the things that are seen but on the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are for a time, but the things that are unseen are eternal. In another place you may read that the invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, can be understood through the things that have been created, and his everlasting power and godhead can be known through his works. The Lord himself says: If you do not believe me, believe at least my works. Then believe that the presence of the godhead is there. You believe in its activity, and refuse to believe in its presence? How could there be activity if there were no presence beforehand? Consider how ancient the mystery is, prefigured as it was in the creation of the world itself. In the very beginning, when God made heaven and earth, the spirit, God tells us, moved over the waters. Was the spirit not active as he moved over the waters? When the prophet tells you that by the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the spirit of his mouth all their array, realize that the spirit was active in this making of the world. The fact that he moved over the waters, and the fact that he was active, both rest on prophetic testimony. Moses tells us that the spirit moved over the waters; David testifies that the spirit was active. Listen to another testimony. All flesh had become corrupt because of its sins. God said: My spirit will not remain in men, for they are flesh. God thus shows that the spiritual grace is repelled by uncleanness of the flesh and by the stain of more serious sin. So God resolved to restore the gift he had given. He sent the flood and ordered Noah, the righteous man, into the ark. When the flood began to subside Noah sent first a raven, then a dove, which, as we read, came back with an olive branch. You see water, you see wood, you look on a dove, and you hesitate to believe the mystery? The water is that in which the flesh is dipped, to wash away all its sin. In it all wickedness is buried. The wood is that to which the Lord Jesus was fastened when he suffered for us. The dove is the one in whose likeness the Holy Spirit descended, as you have learned from the New Testament: the Spirit who breathes into you peace of soul, tranquility of mind.
St. Ambrose starts with a question. What did you see in the baptistry? Water, certainly. But not water alone.
He wants you to look past the surface. The visible things are temporary, he says, quoting the Apostle, while the invisible ones last. Then he roots the whole argument in creation itself. At the very beginning, the Spirit moved over the waters and was active there, making a world out of nothing. So this is not a new trick. The mystery is ancient, prefigured long before anyone was around to witness it.
Watch how he reads the flood. Sin had corrupted all flesh, so God sent water, a righteous man into an ark, and a dove that came back carrying an olive branch. Ambrose freezes that frame and points. You see water. You see wood. You see a dove. And you still hesitate to believe?
Then he names what each one is. The water is where your sin is washed away and buried. The wood is the cross the Lord was fastened to when he suffered for you. The dove is the likeness the Holy Spirit took, the Spirit who breathes peace of soul and tranquility of mind into you.
His logic is almost stubborn. You believe in the activity, he says, so why refuse the presence? How could there be activity if there were no presence first?
The ordinary thing in front of you was never only the ordinary thing. It was carrying the whole story the entire time.
Today's intention
Today I'll look hard at one ordinary thing and ask what God might be doing just beneath its surface.