Purgatorio Archives - Reading Dante

Return to God

Lucy Bamboo · June 30, 2026

Return to God — watercolor of a figure ascending a spiraling arc from darkness toward golden light

We say “return to God” the way we say “return home” — as if it’s obvious where you started. But notice what the word assumes. You can only return to a place you’ve already been. Dante’s entire cosmos rests on a claim most of us never examine: that the soul is going back, not forward … Read more

What is Faith?

Lucy Bamboo · June 28, 2026

What is faith — a figure in watercolor reaches toward golden light at the threshold between reason and the unmappable

Faith, in the version most people inherit, is the assumption you start from — the floor you stand on before any of the hard questions begin. Dante’s poem says something harder: faith is what’s left over after thinking has gone as far as it can and discovers it isn’t far enough. That’s not comfort. That’s … Read more