The Face of God

Few poems have touched me more deeply than one by John Magee, a 2nd World War pilot who flew Supermarine Spitfires over England during 1940-41.

High Flight

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunwards I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds – and done a thousand things You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hovering there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air, Up, up the long delirious burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace, Where never lark, or even eagle, flew; And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

As I re-read High Flight I ponder the impetus for the young pilot’s use of, “the face of God” in his last line. When I learned the author was the son of devoted Christian parents, I surmised he first heared the expression  within the context of his Judeo-Christian upbringing. There are numerous references to the, “Face of God” in the Old Testament, e.g. “As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness: shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness.” Ps.17:19, and, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercy’s sake.” Ps. 31:16.

Investigating the use of the same concept in the scriptures of the Bahá’í Faith (my own)  I have discovered that the Revelation of Baha’u'llah, which is contained in over 100 volumes, makes extensive use of the concept.  While the word “face” itself is used over 600 times in His writings, often it is used in referring to the face of the seeker in relation to “the Face of the One sought” (God’s Face). For example, “Blessed is the man that hath set his face towards God,…”and, “…then turn thy face towards Him Who is the Life-Giver of the world.” And, “O thou who hast set Thy face towards the splendours of My Countenance!”.

But the Writings of Baha’u'llah are also replete with the use of the concept of God’s face used by the aviator, and the old Testament. Here are but two examples: “Detach yourselves from all else but me, and turn your faces towards my Face, for better is this for you than the things ye possess.” Gl. 257:25. Plus, “And whensoever the portals of grace did open…they all denied Him, and turned away from His Face– the Face of God Himself.”

How perfect that Magee should end his poem with such a provacative image. Could anything in its place have been more fitting? To me the young aviator conveys by means of this sonnet of a mere 14 lines, a multi-faceted metaphor offering us glimpses of an ecstatic and mystical experience which, on September 3, 1941, in the cockpit of his aircraft, invaded his soul.

When I reflect upon the level of evident spiritual maturity the poet had reached at age 19, I am filled with immense admiration and a touch of regret, recalling the state of my own dereliction at the same age. Besides his contribution as a fighter pilot toward the protecting of Great Britain, the poem John Gillespie Magee Jr. has left to posterity will surely continue to inspire generations of humanity yet unborn, to slip “…the surly bonds of earth” in a spiritual, if not a physical sense as he did and seek, in their own way, “to touch the Face of God.”

Written by: Bill Skuce

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