The Irony of God
Religious people believe that God exists because of his mysterious actions in human life and nature at large. Ironically, God has no human body, and he cannot be seen using our eyes. Based on the writings of Canterbury, God is a spirit that can only be felt by those who believe in him. Canterbury reminds readers that they should enter into a closed room and behind closed doors to talk to God when they pray. The reader finds this satirical because since God is omnipresent, he can converse with his people anywhere, including in open places. The author writes, "Enter into the chamber of your mind, shut out everything except God, and whatever helps you seek him, behind closed doors.”
The irony of an inaccessible light
God exists in an inaccessible light that sounds sardonic. Believers know that God is light, and when one hears that God exists in inaccessible light, it sounds satirical. The narrator asks, "Where is this inaccessible light?" God dwells in an accessible light, and Canterbury wonders how he can approach him. The reader asks if Canterbury, who comprehends scriptures, cannot find him, where can ordinary people locate God? Consequently, the presence of God is ironic because no one exactly knows where He is.
The irony of creation
According to Canterbury, human beings are created in the image of God, and they expect to see God. However, seeing God in his physical image by human beings is a mystery. The narrator asks, “I was created so that I might see you, but I have not yet done what I was created to do.” The assumption that man is created in the image of God gives hope that God is similar to man.
The irony of happiness
Human beings are created to know God and follow him to attain true happiness and satisfaction. Ironically, people have deviated from their purpose of creation and sought sinful ways to gain happiness. True happiness is not vested in material possessions but knowing God and doing his will. Canterbury says, "How retched human beings are! They have lost the very thing for which they were created. Hard and terrible was their fall! They have lost the happiness they were created and found unhappiness for which they were not created. They left behind the only source of happiness and kept what brings nothing but misery."
The irony of human beings
Human beings are supposed to be happy according to God’s plans. God created man in his image, and he expected people to follow his orders. Adam was the first person, and God placed him in the Garden of Eden, filled with everything he needed in life. Ironically, the descendants of Adam live in misery and absolute poverty because they have deviated from God’s plans. Adam disobeyed God and ate the sacred fruit that was forbidden, and that was the genesis of human suffering. The author writes, “Alas for the common lamentation of human beings, the universal outcry of the children of Adam! He was satisfied to the full; we sigh with hunger. He had everything he needed; we go begging. He happily possessed those things, and he abandoned them in misery; we unhappily do without them and miserably desire them; alas, we remain empty-handed.”
