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The Garden of Metaphors

May 21, 2006

ph_apr_grdngloom.jpg

The Garden of Good and Evil ~ Canon 30d

Every religion is true one way or another.
It is true when understood metaphorically.
But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors,
interpreting them as facts,
then you are in trouble.

~ Joseph Campbell (Scholar of comparative religion)


My Quasimodo post stirred up some commotion here the other day. Up until a few days ago, you've all been supportive of me ~ that is, if a lack of dissent in my email box is a reliable barometer. Whether it is or isn't really doesn't matter to me. We all have a favored lens we like to see the world with. Some prefer a fixed telephoto lens, narrowly focusing on the bible to define their world view, and others, like myself, delight in using both a macro lens to see the minute details, as well as an ultra wide lens which helps me see a broader view of what's in front of me. These are all ways of seeing the world. The world can be experienced on a number of levels, it's up to you how many viewpoints, and how much reality you wish to let in.

Last week there were a couple of comments, one in particular, where the reader thought my post and some of the comments here could have been more respectful. Being the sensitive artist I am, I felt as though I needed to apologize, so that's what I did. I was quick to point out that I had thanked the guy who wrote extensively about what the bible had to say about my post. The impulse to prove I wasn't a dolt in the manners department compelled me. After further consideration, I've decided to take my sorry attitude back. My entry was a creatively written essay that expressed an opinion. That's what blogs are for.

Yes, I am rebelling against the fixed lens approach to The Da Vinci Code and the telephoto approach many Christians take toward the world in general. I think it's dangerous. Yes, I am judging the Catholic church for being over-reactive, and I am doing so in response to their incredibly judgemental assessment of Dan Brown, Ron Howard, and everyone connected to this work of fiction. Expressing exasperation in a creative and healthy way is not a bad thing. It is right and good and a joyful thing to always and everywhere give thanks to the Lord who gave us a brain to think with, and a voice with which to speak. If this sends a ripple of conniption fits up your spine, then maybe it's time to slap a wide angle lens on the camera.

BTW, I'm not at all sorry for my attempt at being humorous just then. If we can't laugh at ourselves, life becomes a living hell, doesn't it?

Some of my viewers have said people in general are *stupid* out there, and they will eagerly swallow a lie if it's wound up in Da Vinci Code wrapping paper. Opus Dei requested a notice be put at the beginning of the movie saying it is *fiction* ~ to help all those *stupid* people, I suppose. I know some of you will disagree with me, but where do we draw the line between what is *fact* and what is *fiction*? Especially when it comes to something so subjective and open to interpretation as religion? How can anyone definitively say any religion is completely and totally factual? Isn't this the definition of fundamentalism?

In my opinion, *WARNING, THIS IS ONLY AN OPINION... AND OPINIONS ARE OFTEN FICTION* ~ the Bible shouldn't be thought of as a non-fictional textbook. Yes, it has historically accurate content, but it also contains poetry and metaphorical stories like Adam and Eve, and Noah's Ark. In the Old Testament, people live to be hundreds of years old.. don't we all know this is highly improbable? That it most likely is FICTION?

It is also important to remember these stories were told over and over before they were actually written down. Ancient texts need to be viewed through a macro lens. We must take into account the time period in which they were written, as well as the many details pertaining to the author's culture. What were the current and previous pagan beliefs of the time? What did the church absorb from these competing religions to help converts feel comfortable and make Christianity more appealing?

Churches still do this with regularity, and a lot of Christians find nothing wrong with it. Visiting mega malls has become a religious practice in this country as we collectively bow down every day at the altar of Super-Sized Over Consumption. Bigger is always better, and the Mega Churches have borrowed heavily from this. It doesn't necessarily mean all big churches are bad, maybe they're just wrapped up in appealing mall-sized packages...?

I think I'm on a roll now, so here it goes... take the virgin birth, for example. Is it a fact, or is it a metaphor? Notice I didn't say *fiction* ~ I said metaphor. A metaphor is a story which explains a deeply meaningful truth. Metaphors explain things we can't see or touch in a way that makes sense to us. It does not mean they are false. In many ways, metaphors are truer than facts, because they explain truths on a level only the poetry in our hearts can decipher. (Uh,oh. I used the word "decipher". All the *stupid* people out there won't be able to decipher understand what I'm trying to communicate explain to them. I better dumb this down and try to keep it elementary simple.)

So, here's the point where I guess I'm kind of inviting a lot of dissenting unhappy comments. In my opinion, *WARNING, THIS IS ONLY AN OPINION... AND OPINIONS ARE OFTEN FICTION* the virgin birth is a metaphor. Science tells me such things do not happen. Science also tells me people don't walk on water, and they do not float up past the clouds and into heaven. Even *stupid* people know lurking just beyond the cumulous clouds over Washington, DC there is a treacherous atmosphere that will gladly incinerate them. Beyond that, there are noxious gases and a vastly miraculous solar system. Heaven is not in the clouds. Most of us deciphered understood this by the third grade.

This is not to say I reject these stories, nor would it be accurrate to conclude I do not believe them, because I do believe them. They are metaphors for something very true. These metaphors have been given to us to explain an aspect of faith, and at the present time, elements of faith cannot be scientifically proven. (Perhaps someday they will!) This, friendly readers, is why metaphors are so heavily utilized in the Bible, it is a collective work about faith and God, and neither one of these things can be touched, seen or proven. We need memorable stories ~ metaphors ~ to capture and articulate what it's like to have a spiritual experience ~ we need metaphors to explain those indescribable, unprovable moments when we experience the Divine. Quite honestly, poets are the best equipped of all of us to genuinely pull this off ~ this defining the undefinable, and seeing the unseen.

The problem is, we lack poetry today. Stupid Average people don't even know what a metaphor is. You drop the word "metaphor" in Christian circles, and sometimes a holy evangelistic radar gets activated. Watch out! There's a non-believer in our midst! Quick! Pull out the Metaphorical Holy Book! Bash her over the head with some verses!

What they don't realize is there is a mountain of valuable symbolism locked inside their mustard seed sized translations. Symbolism which could not only help them decipher understand their faith, but also help them to be more at peace with the parts of the Bible that no longer make sense in the 21st century. There is a way to value the Bible without turning our logic back by a couple of millennium. GOOD NEWS!

Two thousand years ago, people thought the world was flat. Today we are more enlightened, science tells us a different story now. It wasn't really all that long ago that we believed the solar system revolved around the earth ~ Galileo taught us something different. Christians almost killed him for telling the truth, and they called him a LIAR. Before this, people understandably believed heaven was up in the clouds. Yes.. heaven is a place we ascend to, but not in a physical way. There is an ascension, but it occurs on an internal level. Our hearts ascend ~ our spirits are lifted. To stop our definitions short solely on a literal level is to completely lose the spiritual meaning of these things. We are called to rise anew from the death of our misunderstanding.

Do we really need all the special effects ~ the signs and the wonders~ to understand the real miracle ~ the radical, miraculous message of love? The miraculous birth of light in a darkened world? A message of forgiveness for all people, one which washes the heart clean ~ a clean virgin heart, where a spiritual birth can occur? If you're one for miraculous special effects, then perhaps you should go out and see the movie.

If we grasp at the bible and hang onto it as literal truth, as completely literal fact, we could be cutting ourselves off from further enlightenment. The world isn't flat, it is multi-dimensional, and so it is with the spiritual realm. Opening up to the possibility of not knowing everything ~ loosening our grip on being completely sure ~ this is the moment when the footprint of wisdom makes a bold impression on the heart.

Why not try living in the presence of possibility ~ believing God is capable of whispering a loving metaphor in your heart? Dwell, my friends... make your home, in the land of possibility.


Maybe I'm right. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the best thing we all can do is to embrace a world filled with "maybes".

Posted by vincent at May 21, 2006 08:18 AM

Comments

People love to stick God, Jesus and the Bible in a little box, neatly labeled, and believe that this is what it's all about. Any deviation from that little box is heretical, and the person who expresses those thoughts are heretics, apostates, going to hell in a handbasket and on God's s*** list for sure.

Now for reality. If God is small enough to fit in a box, anybody's box and no matter how neatly labeled, that isn't God. Can one atom cause a nuclear explosion of massive proportions all by itself? Can one drop of water all by itself be a tsunami? Not unless you're a microbe and I don't know of anybody who would call themselves a microbe.

One of the best comments ever heard about the Bible and its contents goes "I believe everything in the Bible is really true and some of it even happened." God isn't going to care how well one can recite scripture but how well they live it. And it isn't about enforcing a lot of rules; two will do it --- love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Do those two things from the Bible and everything else will take care of itself.

Posted by: mumcat at May 21, 2006 10:33 AM

WoW!Susan you are really on a roll... and good for you for not apologizing (or at least taking it back). This is your blog, your space to say what you think and feel.
I will guarantee you there will always be some religious nut lurking around ready to pounce on anything they see as sacrilegious.

The thing that bothers me is that I used to be one. It is so easy to get sucked into all that fundamentalist narrow-minded way of seeing things and hard to change it.

Anything we say that contradicts their beliefs is scary to them. You are messing with their sacred cow and if they admit that they have questions about one little thing it feels like their whole foundation is crumbling.

I'm just so grateful thru much grace I have finally seen that God is so much bigger than all that dogma.

Posted by: aola at May 21, 2006 12:42 PM

Grinning over here in the AMEN! corner...

Posted by: samtzmom at May 21, 2006 12:53 PM

Aola, maybe you shouldn't be bothered by your past alignment with the fundamentalists. Maybe you would not be where you find yourself now without having done so. Maybe I can write with eloquence about this limited point of view because I once thought this way myself. Maybe we are meant to stroll a hundred miles down a dark and shallow road so we know the enlightened path when we stumble upon it.

Maybe.

Posted by: susan at May 21, 2006 01:01 PM

Just as we cannot fit God into a box, we cannot fit all of those who worship him in a box. As these last few posts clearly show, there are many people who believe in God and in the Bible, but in very different ways.

I am very UNcomfortable with comments that fit "Christians" into a box. There are several comments that use words like "them" and "their" discussing religious nuts as one group of sound mind. In a perfect world, maybe we would all be of sound mind, understanding everything exactly how it is, but we're human and many of us have interpreted things differently and it seems that the resounding note that many people hear from Christians is that of narrow-mindedness. Please be careful about making these assumptions because it is not true of all Christians.

I consider myself to be a religious nut in that I sometimes say things that are very unpopular or not accepted, but it's forced out of my mouth due to the excitement I have in my faith. I also understand that the things that I have to say don't necessarily make others any less excited about their own faith- which is why I'm glad you don't feel the need to censor whatever you believe in on your posts, Susan. And the fact that you are so accepting of other people's beliefs (seeing as how we are all conveying them in the comments section of YOUR blog) is much appreciated.

Posted by: windylampson at May 21, 2006 01:15 PM

Exactly!

Maybe the overall body of christ should be less complacent? Maybe speaking up would help dislodge the misconceptions you are seeing?

Glad you're speaking up!

Posted by: susan at May 21, 2006 01:21 PM

One more brilliant piece of thinking and articulating. I find the discussion so refreshing. We are so polarized in this country that it hurts. Every person's truth and beliefs are different when it comes to their spiritual life and that is how it should be. Our beings are built on our own experiences ... sometimes on pain and distrust, sometimes on miracles. We can never agree on truth or what or who God is. Let us not forget that this land was first settled by those who were looking for a place where they could worship their God freely without interferance from anyone including the government. What is unfolding in this discussion goes far beyond The Da Vinci Code. It seems to me that the book and movie are heaven sent if they can open up this kind of dialogue between friends and others who have never met. Let us hear and allow each other our truths. Let us celebratie the things that all of us of all faiths have in common ... life and magnificent mystery that all of us long to participate in.

Posted by: JZR at May 21, 2006 03:14 PM

Susan, your writing continually moves and inspires me! I found myself saying "Yes!" over and over while reading your posts. Thanks!

Posted by: Peg at May 21, 2006 04:35 PM

Thank you. I have learned from some wonderful teachers over the years and for the most part I am simply expressing what I have learned from them from my unique perspective. It pleases me that a bit of dialog is occurring here. This movie has assisted in getting the ball rolling, and as JZR said, that's a very good thing.

Posted by: susan at May 21, 2006 05:15 PM

" Maybe we are meant to stroll a hundred miles down a dark and shallow road so we know the enlightened path when we stumble upon it"

I really love that!

Posted by: aola at May 21, 2006 09:44 PM

The devil once went for a walk with a friend. They saw a man ahead of them stoop down and pick up something from the ground.

"What did that man find?" asked the friend.

"A piece of the truth," said the devil.

"Doesn't that disturb you?" asked the friend.

"No," said the devil, "I shall let him make a belief out of it."


A religious belief is a signpost (metaphor) pointing the way to truth. When you cling to the signpost you are prevented from moving toward the truth because you think you have it already.

But Susan, when you go chopping down signposts...

To mix religious metaphors, this post has the feel of bad karma. ;)

Posted by: Mark W. at May 22, 2006 10:00 AM

Mark,

I totally love your little devil story! I love it because I think it actually supports my thesis.

The Joseph Campbell quote at the top of my post explains that when people begin to BELIEVE their religious metaphors, thinking of them as facts instead of symbolic representations of an inner truth ~ this is when "bad karma" begins and we get into trouble.

;)

Susan

Posted by: susan at May 22, 2006 10:11 AM

even better than the original susan - keep rolling woman! oh, and the image - ghostly delicious!! it's a story all by itself!

Posted by: Heidi at May 22, 2006 04:20 PM

Belief is thought at rest.

~ William James

Posted by: eB at May 23, 2006 09:57 AM