The Quomnia Torch (Book Excerpt)
You may be asking yourself, “where is that cool quomnia logo from, and what does it mean?” Well, we’ve plastered it all over the site, so we figured it was time to give you some insight into what it’s all about. Rather than just a boring old blog post, we thought we’d give you a sneak peek into the portion of the Quomnia book, revealing the story and symbolism of the Quomnia Torch.
As an excerpt from the book, “A Note on the Imagery”
The torch-like emblem on the cover of this book, The Quomnia Torch, represents the Holy Trinity. The elements are the Alpha and Omega (the beginning and ending: God the Father), the corpus of Christ crucified, and the Flame of the Holy Spirit. Three dots above the flame represent our heart, mind, and soul, borne forth from the flame.
There is a line down the middle of the flame to represent the fallen nature of man, separating us from the fullness of the love of the triune godhead. Christ's hallow glows from within the flame, signifying redemption, connected to the line of separation through a small opening, at the right hand of Christ, which has biblical importance. This symbolizes Christ as "the way," carried out on the shoulders of Christ, through the flame of the Holy Spirit, to the source, the beginning and ending, the alpha and omega, God the Father. This image is intended to look like a torch, lighting our path, from the supreme source of all, to great purpose and meaning in our lives, and throughout time.
There is much richer symbolism here. Ultimately, it's my take on the Opera Trinitatis (the external works of the Trinity). However, it would take far too long to truly enumerate the symbolism in this image in a short note, and could be a topic for a separate book.
I [Johnathan Sumpter] drew the central part of this image, all but the flame, when I was in High School, before the turn of the Century, not thinking much of it. Later, as a college student, I attended Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, TX. There, I came to know the philosophical meanings of life.
Through the years, as a seminarian, in ministry with the church, and as a licensed mental health clinician, I find myself returning to this phrase and this image, over and over. As a father, I see the need to pass down the essential things in life. Thus, it was time to share these thoughts with you. I pray they can be as comforting to you as they have been to me in times of need.
If this resonated with you, there’s much more to explore in Quomnia.
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