‘DUC IN ALTUM’ – DELVE INTO THE DEEP
‘DUC IN ALTUM’
– DELVE INTO THE DEEP
Dr
M. D. Thomas
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‘Duc in Altum’ is a popular Latin phrase, with wide-ranging implications and applications. ‘Duc’ means ‘to lead’, as in words ‘conduct, induct, produce and educate’. Further, it connotes ‘put out, cast out, draw, delve, plunge, launch’, etc. ‘Altum’ would mean ‘altitude, depth, sublime’, and the like. That would amount to state that ‘duc in altum’ implies ‘delving into the deep’, in search of the unlimited, unseen and the unfathomable.
Originally, the above phrase was a compact instruction Jesus gave to Peter, “put out into the deep” (Lk 5.4). It meant then ‘go out where it is deeper and let down your nets for a catch’. No doubt, Peter was an experienced fisherman. All the same, he chose to act upon the ‘wisdom’ of the instruction of his Master. As a result, he got a ‘catch’ that was far beyond his entire world of imagination, for sure so.
Peter has been with Jesus for fairly some time. The current episode gave him a ‘deep sight’ into his ‘divine nerve’, anew, too. Therefore, it did not take much time for Peter to realize that the ‘deeper’ way for him, in the real sense, would mean following him in ‘full measure’. He decided to pursue the instruction further and to go beyond the profession of fishing, in view of exploring its implications for him in the larger context of life. And, in reality, Peter “left everything and followed him” (Lk 5.11), for good.
‘Delve or launch out into the deep’ is indeed a complete dictum in life for all humans, in all aspects, at all times and in all places. Life would mean ‘delving into the deeper, larger and higher horizons’ of life, every moment of one’s life, and all at one shot. Such a delving is an ‘unending process’ between birth and death, or better, from womb to tomb, and even beyond, by way of ‘rising again’ to eternal proportions.
In the ‘parable of the talents’ (Mt 25.14-30) Jesus illustrates the sublime paradigm of leading one’s life towards attaining the fullest stature of life possible. The one who received ‘five’ talents engaged in trading with them and made five more. In a similar fashion, the one who received ‘two’ made out of them two more. Naturally, both of them were accorded a grand ‘well done’, signifying the creditable merit of multiplying oneself towards deeper, larger and higher prospects of human life, of course, to divine prospects, as well.
Further on, Jesus made a brilliant revelation of the ultimate purpose of his life. Life, for him, was to fulfill the will of God the Father in favour of the humans, “that you have life, that too, life to the full” (Jn 10.10). Sharing life with the humans, life with all the lives, no less than to the brim, is the way he lived out his mission of life, in full. He motivates, enthuses, enlightens, energizes, empowers and fructifies the lives of those who stay tuned to him. The voyage of life has to go on until one reaches the rim, well, the depth and height of all efforts.
Jesus defined the core of the relation between him, the Master, and his disciple, in a very subtle, sublime and decisive way. “I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him, will bear much fruit” (Jn 15.5). Obviously, the stem of the tree is rooted in the ground and branches have to remain essentially ever united with the tree. Only then, the ‘sap of life’ from the roots and the stem will flow into the branches, which would grow larger and higher and eventually bear fruit. ‘Roots at depth and fruits at height’ are interleaved in the extensive space of the stem and the branches between them.
Once Jesus inquired among his disciples
‘who do people say I am’? The popular answers that came up were extremely scattered,
shallow and pointless. He proceeded, “who do you say I am” (Mt 16.12)? The
answer requires ever a thorough ‘delve’ in to the deep recesses of one’s life,
manifestly so. One has to dig deep to obtain pure water. A disciple is he or
she who has fathomed the reservoir of one’s mind, heart, spirit and conscience
and has learned, at depth, how remarkable and resourceful the Master is! Personalized
knowledge from the depth of one’s experience only can imagine the depth of the
Master. No wonder, it calls for an out and out ‘delve’ into ‘the unfathomable
niche of the human and divine mystery’.
Jesus narrates the luminous and earth-shaking story of “a poor widow, who put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury of the temple. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood” (Mk 12.41-44). The widow is an outstanding model of ‘what it means to give’. To give ‘something’ from the plenty is no giving, at all. To give, truly, is to ‘give everything’, that too, out of having hardly anything. That amounts to state that ‘total giving’ knows ‘the depth and the quality’ of giving. That is the ‘height of giving’ as well as the high point of life, too.
Thomas the Apostle is a synonym for a ‘faith’ that is possibly the most brilliant paradigm for all times (Jn 20.24-28). Without relying on the surface-level information of others, Thomas wanted to see the risen Jesus for him. He wanted to know the secret of ‘what it means to rise again’, by seeing the risen Jesus with his own eyes, listening to his voice himself, knowing him with his own mind and experiencing him with his own heart. No wonder, having been ‘face-to face with the risen Jesus’, Thomas fathomed Jesus at depth and he exclaimed, ‘my Master and my God’. Thomas mastered the ‘depth’ and ‘height’ of faith in the risen Jesus, in one go.
The people who have been witnessing Jesus for years, overwhelmed in amazement, called out “he does all things well” (Mk7.37). This is the best compliment Jesus could have, ever, that illustrates the singular blend of the divine and human power of ‘perfection’, both in word and deed. Jesus was eternally scheduled to make God incarnate on earth, as the Father of all humans, in all possible dimensions and proportions. He did it with the supreme quality of brilliance, without a shred of doubt, too. When the sacred transforms the human into humane, when the depth rises up to the altitude, it is ‘perfection’ that emerges as its natural outcome.
In point of fact, ‘delving in to the deep’ is the pathway towards the fuller and richer possibilities and spheres of human life. The deep and the high, along with the large, together define life, which is ‘full-blown’ in the human and divine realms. The deep has to duly be situated in ‘oneself and in the other’. The deeper dimensions on either side are complementary, progressive and enriching. It is like, left and right legs moved forward alternatively in the act of walking, in view of advancing the journey to the unfathomable.
Plunging into the collective deep, with one accord, is definitely the search for the deeper and higher in life, of course, with richer and enduring results, more and more. In fact, the ‘inclusive and interactive’ aspects of depth and altitude are beached at the ‘horizontal’ facet of life, of course, in complete tune with the ‘vertical’. The multi-layered faces of life underscore the all-round and immeasurable scope of delving into the ‘human as well as divine mystery’ in the deeper, larger and higher horizons of human life.
All things considered, the deep refers to ‘the unseen and the unknown’, both in the limited and unlimited contexts. Human life is a never ending spiritual journey towards the unidentified and the unheard of. All that is beyond the current moment is part of the unknown. The known has to be ever unlearnt, in view of learning that, which lies beyond thus far. The process of descending to the deep necessitates and corresponds entirely to the process of ascending to the heights, certainly, by way of the areas of the larger.
‘Depth and height’ in the complete and ultimate context is the ‘core’ of life, the hub of ‘being’, in the ‘natural, human and divine’ arenas. In other words, it would mean relishing the ‘spirit’ in oneself, in the other, in the creation and in the Creator, all together. ‘Duc in Altum’ is a spiritual ‘leap forward’, every moment of life, towards being increasingly charged by the ‘electric wire of the divine’, spread over ‘inside, outside and above’. That very same energy keeps the timeless spiritual journey of the humans, along with the creation, heading for the intended destination of the ‘eternal depth and altitude’ that is far beyond the frail human mind.
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The author is Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi, and has been committed to cross-cultural perspectives, cross-scriptural values, constitutional values, interfaith relations, communal harmony, national integration and social wellbeing, for the past over 40 years. He contributes to the above cause through lectures, articles, video messages, conferences, social interactions, views at TV channels, and the like.
He
could be viewed, listened to and
contacted at the following portals – websites ‘www.mdthomas.in’
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