- Feb 5, 2002
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By Guest Writer, Fr. Peregrine Fletcher, O. Praem
The difference between a snail and a king is a vast one; and the distance between their statures and statuses in the world make it unlikely that their destinies would necessarily intertwine. And yet, it is this expansive distance between them which is the very landscape of the story The Snail and the King: a story which explores the astonishing distance between Almighty God and his lowly creatures and the even more astonishing reality of just how near He is to us.
The Beginnings
I first wrote the story eleven years ago. The story’s concept—a snail on long and difficult journey—came to mind came to mind while I was on a retreat discerning my vocation.
Needless to say, I was feeling pretty slow, being twenty-five years old at the time and with little sense of clarity about my future. Yet in the midst of this struggle, I remember being struck by the confidence which the Scriptures and the saints place in our weakness. As God told St. Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). In this same spirit, St. Therese wrote the following about God to her sister Marie:
What pleases Him is that He sees me loving my littleness and my poverty, the blind hope that I have in His mercy… understand that to love Jesus, to be His victim of love, the weaker one is…the more suited one is for the workings of this consuming and transforming love.
I had read verses and writings like this many times before, but now it was time to really live them out. However slow, God would lead me along His path and would continue to do so—through all of the twists, turns, and trials along the way. And with this is mind, I started feverishly drawing in a sketchbook, scribbling many ideas and images, until suddenly this story was born. For more than a decade it remained patiently in a sketchbook, and now I am pleased to be able to share the story with you.
The Story
Continued Below.
ignitumtoday.com
The difference between a snail and a king is a vast one; and the distance between their statures and statuses in the world make it unlikely that their destinies would necessarily intertwine. And yet, it is this expansive distance between them which is the very landscape of the story The Snail and the King: a story which explores the astonishing distance between Almighty God and his lowly creatures and the even more astonishing reality of just how near He is to us.
The Beginnings
I first wrote the story eleven years ago. The story’s concept—a snail on long and difficult journey—came to mind came to mind while I was on a retreat discerning my vocation.
Needless to say, I was feeling pretty slow, being twenty-five years old at the time and with little sense of clarity about my future. Yet in the midst of this struggle, I remember being struck by the confidence which the Scriptures and the saints place in our weakness. As God told St. Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). In this same spirit, St. Therese wrote the following about God to her sister Marie:
What pleases Him is that He sees me loving my littleness and my poverty, the blind hope that I have in His mercy… understand that to love Jesus, to be His victim of love, the weaker one is…the more suited one is for the workings of this consuming and transforming love.
I had read verses and writings like this many times before, but now it was time to really live them out. However slow, God would lead me along His path and would continue to do so—through all of the twists, turns, and trials along the way. And with this is mind, I started feverishly drawing in a sketchbook, scribbling many ideas and images, until suddenly this story was born. For more than a decade it remained patiently in a sketchbook, and now I am pleased to be able to share the story with you.
The Story
Continued Below.
The Snail and the King
By Guest Writer, Fr. Peregrine Fletcher, O. Praem The difference between a snail and a king is a vast one; and the distance between their statures and statuses in the world make it unlikely that th…
ignitumtoday.com
