A Metaphysical Metamorphosis

The contemplation of God, and heaven, is a kind of burial, and sepulchre, and rest of the soul; and in this death of rapture, and ecstacy, in this death of the contemplation of my interest in my Saviour, I shall find myself, and all my sins interred, and entombed in his wounds, and like a lily in Paradise, out of red earth, I shall see my soul rise out of his blade, in a candour, and in an innocence, contracted there, acceptable in the sight of his Father.

John Donne

The Nature of Thought

http://www.ted.com/talks/james_geary_metaphorically_speaking.html A clean, concise, and colorful reminder that metaphor is the foundation of human thought and creativity. It came to me in college that the first and most decisive sign of genius is facility in metaphorical thinking--I always look for this characteristic when I encounter a new writer.