Life’s vibrancy is not sucked away by the black hole of death, rather it is drained through the radiant white hole of intoxication. To live, life must shine. It is the shine of intoxication which prescribes life’s destiny, unfolding its possibilities. If life shined not, being would be deaf to the joys and sorrows of existence, silent to the empathy which defines our humanity. If life shined not, living would be blind even unto itself, unable to see the essence of its inner being. If life shined not, interiority would be isolated from the elementality which sustains its presence, cut off from those melodious interactions with exteriority which gives substance to existence. If interiority were silent, art would be mere surfaces, devoid of depth. The surfacing of interiority is the essence of art. Its surfacing not only sustains art, it is also a sign of existence’s embrace of the soul. In that embrace, life is able to confront its fears, confess its vulnerabilities, and acknowledge its limitations. Only then can the spirit be liberated from the encirclement of mortality. Death’s presence must entice life to burn the flames of unquenchable torment for those flames must penetrate the deepest caverns of our soul in order to awaken the spirit unto itself. This flame, which is destined to consume itself, must illuminate falleness, in order to light the way toward our redemption.

The fallen angels not only accept this duplicity which accompanies being, they embrace the paradox of existence. Brightly their spirits shine the shine of exhaustion, for depletion is the condition of ultramateriality. Brightly their spirits shine the shine of deliverance, for redemption is the promise of our humanity. Their shine is steadfast for they must illuminate temporality’s embrace of eternity. In so far as their falleness exposes life’s torments, we are compelled to turn away, to divert our gaze from the horror of our destiny. But in so far as their dignity points toward spirit’s engagement with the sublime, our soul is able to brush against hope’s potential. This uncovering of the tension of existence summons each us to examine our inner most being, calling us to open ourselves to our heart’s yearnings, compelling our souls to embrace our deeper humanity. The persistence of their piety exposes life to be at once terrifying and joyful, at once cacophonous and harmonious. Such are the melodies of existence. Their torment has allowed them to understand that falling is simply the other side of flying. Life is driven by this inner contrast. It is so. It must be so. It must be if existence is to look beyond those temporal surfaces which glisten ever so darkly.