The Flight of the Eagle: In Memory of Stanisław Grygiel, Teacher, Father, and Friend

By Livio Melina|2024-02-06T11:08:29+01:0021 February 2023|Death and Dying, Hope, Truth|

For me, his first lecture at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family remains unforgettable. In it, he showed us the peculiarities of the Eastern way of thinking compared to the clear and unambiguous syllogisms of Western thinking. The young professor from Krakow offered us the metaphor of the flight of the eagle, which draws concentric circles in the sky as it approaches its prey. These circles allow the eagle to see its prey from new perspectives. Knowledge of life cannot be contained in definitions and concepts that claim to grasp an object, he told us. Rather, it is a matter of personal relationships and communion. Truth is an event that happens and surprises us. It does not repeat itself, but it goes deeper and deeper. It requires us to be willing to go on a constant pilgrimage, to be humble, to search prayerfully, and to be open to live in communion with others.