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THAT WHICH LIES IN THE CREASE

A mystery is always one fold away. That is how I see folding origami pieces. From
random looking icons on a page, a folder, an origami artist, can transform a measly sheet of
paper into a work of arta sheet of paper which now stands, and, somehow, shows life. This
mystery can be shown in Dunnes statement:
There is an ebb and flow, a near and far,
in our relation to the mystery of life.
That which shows itself and withdraws
is the essential of what we call the mystery.1
Ebb, as defined in the dictionary, is a point or condition of decline. 2 Meanwhile, flow
is defined as to move or proceed smoothly and readily. 3 Just from these 2 definitions, we
can arrive with a belief of the idea that ebb and flow are forces which oppose each other.
Yet, with this supposition, we also find that they co-exist. One does not exist without the
other.
This relationship is a paradoxical one. A paradox, as explained in our handouts, is
[t]wo juxtaposed statements or ideas, one in polar contrast to the other, yet somehow
complementing one another, and the net effect is a peculiar and surprising expression of
truth.4
This concept of contrasting, yet complementary, ideas can be tangibly shown in the
world of origami. There are 2 basic folds, in origami, with which one creates a masterpiece,
namely, the valley and the mountain fold.5 These two folds are contradictory, yet
complementary. Though, one may look at a valley fold, play around with your vantage point,
and see a mountain fold, other mountain folds that have been done will now be the valley
folds. Their co-existence cannot be denied. So it is with the ebb and flow of the mysteries of
life.

1 John S. Dunne, The Music of Time, in The Music of Time: Words and Music and
Spiritual Friendship (NotreDame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996), 1-7.

2
3
4 Justin Joseph Badion, On Faith, Lecture 303, 6
5 A valley fold is a fold wherein the fold is like a valley, if you look at it from the
side. Meanwhile, a mountain fold, as it sounds, is like creating a mountain. You
create an upward peak.
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As Dunne says in The Music of Time, The unknown, the mystery, shows itself and
withdraws in words and in music, and in friendship6
This also holds true for the idea of longing for the flowing to begin all over again. You
begin with the ebbing, and with the longing, the flowing begins. 7 As with my prior origami
example, if you start with a valley, and turn it around to make it a mountain fold, the
existence of the valley also shows as one of the prior mountain folds. In this origami
example, looking for the mountain fold is what also creates the valley fold.
Yet, in this longing for only one side, we are also wanting the other side. We want
both the pleasures [w]e want both the ebb and the flow. 8 Why so? Because the two sides
are there to create a whole. And this feeling of wholeness is what we strive for. We strive for
a wholeness in ourselves and in communion with others. [W]e want to exist, to be separate,
even to be alone, and yet we want "the union of love with God" and to know that we are
not alone.9
This longing is what keeps us going.

10

The longing is what puts us inside the bubble

of knowing and unknowing. As we progress through life, we acquire knowledge. We have a

knowing of something. Yet, this knowing also flows with an ebb of unknowing because the
knowledge gained brings with it a newer horizon. As discussed in our lecture on John
Sawards analogy of faith and the ocean11, as we move towards what was previously a
horizon, the horizon ebbs. It moves away again. This is, in my eyes, the bubble of knowing
and unknowing.
As in origami, the more you progress, skill-wise, you also see a whole lot more things
to learn, to study and to fold. In my personal experience, after 12 years of folding, I have
found that there are some pieces that take more skill than I currently possess. In my case, I
would say that this next threshold, this next horizon, is using a crease pattern 12. The level
of difficulty I have when folding from a diagram is already at an intermediate-to-experienced
level, if I assess myself against the posted level of difficulty of the diagram. But the crease
pattern method is something foreign to me. There is an unknowing of the methods of
folding. But this method only made itself known to me after I had advanced my skill and
6 John S. Dunne, 3
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid., 5
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid., 3
11 John Saward, Cradle of Redeeming Love, 48.
12 Crease pattern is an image of all the creases of a finished piece. No words,
just lines to show where to fold.
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longing for that next known thing, which comes from the unknown. We are certain about
what we know. But life is about mystery. This, as we know more, shows more of the mystery.
As previously said, this is a cycle. Beginnings and the gaining of knowledge to quench the
curiosity are always a cycle. Nonetheless, it is in our hands to choose the path.
So we are led along the road by an elusive light, the light of mystery that shows and
withdraws and leads us on and on.13 It is this mystery of what is next that pushes us. As
Dunne says, What counts in life, it seems, is our relationship to the mystery.
Lifes mystery is what gives us our purpose and a human persons natural inclination
towards the unknowna certain curiosity which leads to enlightenment, and further into
another darkness. The aspiration to truth is more precious because it is a relationship of
love 14 Love, being one of the Catholic Churchs principal values 15, leads to over
improvement.
Back to the origami example, it is the love for all things origami which leads me to
further my study on it.
(965)

13 Ibid., 3
14 Ibid., 4
15 As discussed in class
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