Unto the end, for Idithun, a psalm of Asaph. (Psalm 76:1 DR)
One of the earliest developmental milestones of any human being is learning how to walk. As years go by it becomes so second nature to us that we don’t really even notice that we d it any more, at least not unless we are prevented from doing so. But we don’t start out walking, and there are lots of falls and and much learning that must occur for us to walk, let alone anything requiring more coordination.
And while there is a natural impulse within us to walk, it is also something our parents have to more or less make us do. It would be a travesty to allow a child to grow up only knowing how to crawl and never giving them an opportunity to walk. And thus even though our parents know we will well have plenty of falls, they still teach us to walk knowing that the slight pain in learning will be for our benefit in the future.
This is of course true in almost any aspect of life, in that anything worthwhile or good requires some suffering to obtain, especially if it is something that we have to learn— even if it is just a sacrifice of time or the opportunity cost that striving after anything entails.
Progress in the spiritual life is no different, for not only must we learn how to walk before we can run or climb, but the learning and growing process is likewise fraught with suffering and its share of falls. We simply cannot grow into sanctification with suffering of some kind, as it is a means of purifying our intentions and focusing our hearts and minds on the goal of it all, which is Christ.
The inscription of this Psalm may seem a throwaway line, but St. Augustine sees in it a preamble for the rest that is to come, as the Psalm will speak of those with feet enabled to attain unto God:
What “Unto the end is,” you know. Idithun is interpreted “leaping over those men,” Asaph is interpreted “a congregation.” Here therefore there is speaking “a congregation that leaps over,” in order that it may reach the End, which is Christ Jesus… (St. Augustine, Exposition on the Psalms, 76, 1.)
This one “leaping over” thus refers to the Church whose feet is gird so as to “leap over” whatever stands in her way to reach the End, which is her Lord Jesus Christ. This may seem a fanciful interpretation, but it is keeping with other passages from the Psalms in which the Psalmist describes feet that enable the just man to attain unto his end:
God who hath girt me with strength; and made my way blameless. Who hath made my feet like the feet of harts: and who setteth me upon high places. (Psalm 17:33-34 DR)
The Psalmist here likens the just man’s feet to the hart who can traverse the mountains cliffsides without fear because its feet are sure and steady, whereas the feet of a man would be cause for greater peril and fear. The righteous man thus has not simply learned to walk or run, but also to ascend the heights, to accustom his feet to the narrow paths by which he might attain unto the house of the Lord.
In our natural state we cannot hope for this, as our feet are too clumsy and acclimated to flatter terrain. Yet we are not made for this world but for heaven, and thus our “feet” must undergo a transformation; this spiritual progress comes through the grace of God poured into our hearts, as prophesied by Isaiah:
Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees. Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you… Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. (Isaiah 35:3-4, 6 DR)
In his Incarnation Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s words, as he himself leapt down from heaven, as if were, to make his dwelling with us, and by the creating of the Church enables those he has redeemed to have feet like the harts which can leap over this world to attain unto the heavenly kingdom. As we progress in the spiritual life through suffering and penance, prayer and fasting, we strengthen our feet and get them used to the cliffs and crags of this life so that we can walk without stumbling and leap unto the End.
For this animation I found a picture of someone leaping, which is perhaps on the nose, but that’s ok. I cut it out in Photoshop and brought it into After Effects. I found another great photo of a mountain and removed the sky and then used an ellipse as a track matte for the bottom half of it.
Next I added in some clouds to give the whole scene a bit of presence and added some quick wiggle hold expressions to the various pieces. I also added a duplicate of the person leaping and added a solid fill as a quick drop shadow, but since it is a separate layer it animates independently of the foreground layer, which creates a nice offset.
Lastly I added in a grunge texture in the background and applied some light pixel sorting to it just for some visual interest in the background.
Enjoy.
Unto the end, for Idithun, a psalm of Asaph.
(Psalm 76:1 DR)
View a higher quality version of this gif here: