The Humanized Cosmos

The creation longs eagerly for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Rom. 8:19

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Reality requires both the objective and subjective; its actuality in space and time as well as a conscious being to perceive it. For this reason, creation can be understood as a cosmic dialogue between God and man, between the infinite Personal Reality and the single created being able to perceive reality. The whole of creation is fulfilled when it is perceived and known by mankind. Fr Dumitru Staniloae describes this as such:

The reasons (logoi) within things disclose themselves to human consciousness and must be assimilated by it...they are the potential rays of human reason on the way towards being revealed as its actual rays...

St Maximus refers to man as the macrocosm of the universe, since he is the sole subject to which reason is aimed and he alone can unite all aspects of the universe in himself, both by his senses and his intellect. Therefore, if man is to become an extension of God by deification, creation is to become an extension man by his creativity, being gradually transformed into a humanized cosmos.

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Man is the priest over creation, the mediator between creation and the Logos through Christ's uniting man and God in Himself. It is by mimetic transformation that this mediation takes place; by man's creative movement of love for God rendering the creation as the transparent expression of the Word. This is why creation longs for the revealing of the sons of God, for as Christ unites the Word and flesh in Himself, man is moved by the Spirit to unite the reason spoken from God to His material creation- what St Maximus calls the mystery of Christ's embodiment; first in man's own being, then in man writ large throughout the cosmos. The everlasting Edenic task remains: mankind must manifest the Logos by ressurecting His image in all things. He must transform simple words into divine poetry, plain speech into holy psalms, make a kingdom of mirrors to reflect heaven in image and likeness, and be made himself into the image of Christ that he may endlessly make that same image again and again in the cosmic infinitude.

(Conclusion of Mimetic Reality series)