ENCOUNTERING
GOD THROUGH METAPHOR
METAPHOR
AND THE MOVIES
Let
me ask you a question – “why are you here today?”. Don’t respond verbally but
just think about that?
Is
it because it’s a spirituality day? Or perhaps because you like film? Or you
felt the two couldn’t possibly go together so you were curious – or have come
wanting to give me a hard time?
But
what is this stuff that enables us to see a meaning beyond what is physically
and literally in front of us? What is the stuff of creativity and how is that
linked to us being “made in the image of God” – a God who is Creator?
The
field of natural theology which is based on reason and experience tells us that
we can discern much about God simply from observing the world around us and
from reflecting on it. Even observing one another.
So
when we encounter things like story, music, art in all its forms, we encounter
an invitation to explore God, what God means to us and our relationship to God.
Without a frame information is simply information and
has no real meaning. If I say “Large black rainclouds gathered and partly
obscured the sun” that is an almost meaningless statement – you can of course
visualise it, compare it to previous experience, even draw it and embellish it,
but with putting a frame around it – without giving it a context it is
meaningless.
In
identifying metaphors we need to put a frame both around the context in which
we see the metaphor and also around our own interpretative context so that we
might be able to translate understanding and meaning into our world.
The
best stories and metaphors might be quite simple and capable of seemingly only
one interpretation – but I would like to suggest the richest source of
discovering new meaning are stories and situations that are complex and have
layers which make possible a number of interpretations. Ambiguity is an
important thing.
The
story of the Quarryman - The Magic of Metaphor p43.
Metaphors
are not simply rhetorical devices but can serve as mechanisms that allow us to
reshape our perception and our experience – they allow for the possibility of
new understanding and growth.
If
we were to choose a different metaphor to express and idea we would be changing
its frame which would enable us to understand the idea in a new way. Changing
perspective in this way allows us to see ourselves, others, the world and God
in new and sometimes challenging ways.
Metaphor
also allows for quite complex and possibly obscure concepts to be communicated
in a way that makes them accessible and more concrete. As Nick Owen says
“Metaphor allows us to externalise abstract thinking and translate it into a
sensory-based tangible representation”[i] – through metaphor
we can give shape, form and substance to our thoughts and understanding.
In
the spiritual journey these encounters can help us like way markers along the
path of pilgrimage. When we look back we can gain confidence and discern the
hand of God guiding and leading us – it gives us confidence to take the next
step. We may not be able to see even the next way marker and almost certainly
not our destination – but at times all we need is to be able to take that next
step.
Story
is important – ask any child. They like the same stories over and over again
and even though they are completely familiar with the words they want to hear
them. Their mind’s eye placing them within the story as they live out their
fantasy and drift comfortably off to sleep.
Stories
are important because of their narrative nature – human existence is a
narrative, a story. It is a series of events that can be narrated – retold as
story. We view our life not a series of disconnected random encounters but as
series of events that lead one to another – not always in expected ways, but
usually linked in some way.
Our
stories intertwine and weave a web with the stories of others. Often we can
understand our story – even if we only choose to do so at an superficial level.
Sometimes we need others to help us make sense of where we are. We stretch out
towards God and through God’s word – both written and embodied – we endeavour
to make meaning of our situation, our circumstances, the things we have
discovered and learned.
The
literal meaning of metaphor in its original Greek is transfer – to carry over,
in this case usually our understanding. Metaphors have this capacity to
illustrate transformation which surely is what the Gospel is all about.
Becoming more Christ-like is the goal of discipleship and along the pathway we
undergo transformation after transformation.
When
we find a medium that presents stories to us in a way that allows us to build a
bridge to the stories we see and hear, and connect our story to the other
story, we delight. But best of all, when we find that God’s story and our story
collide and interact we discover that we are able to make meaning at a deeper
level. I would like to suggest that movies can enable us to do that.
If
we have eyes to see and ears to hear the story that brings God into our
experience, we can engage in movie-watching in a whole new way. A way that can
deepen our sense of connectedness with our interior world, humanity, the world
in which we live and with God. As Anderson and Foley tell us, “Stories are
privileged and imaginative acts of self-interpretation.”[ii]
Whilst
I have a particular interest in film and how we can read film as a theological
text drawing us into God, I realise that other areas of the Arts have equal
ability and capacity to mediate to us something of the transcendent. If music
is more your thing, have a look at the Jeremy Begbie clip on youTube.
Metaphors,
stories, archetypes and myths are all capable of embodying the common identity
of a people – their history, culture, values and customs. They are a form of
social glue that bond a people together.
The
Church – the community of God’s people have a shared story. A story empowered
by love that inspires to continue to search for a sense of meaning in this
world to equip us for life in the world beyond.
So
as we gather today, we are open to help one another to find meaning and so deepen
our understanding of self, one another and God. We are going to have another
space to reflect shortly and then I’d ask you to ensure you are back here at
15:40 to share in an act of worship together. There will be no compulsion.
Everyone
is invited to share, briefly, something that has come freshly to them today
through our reflection on metaphor. It might be something about you, or a
situation you are in or about God – or even about the value of watching films
in this way.
Before
we go into that time of reflection (beware there is a wedding in the Cathedral
this afternoon) one more story:
The
Chicken and The Eagle - The Magic of Metaphor p126.
Are
you a chicken or an Eagle? What is God calling you to become?
[i] The Magic of Metaphor, p xvi (Introduction)
Books cited
Plato,
(380BC), 1955, Tr H.D.P. Lee, Plato The
Republic, The Penguin Classics, London.
Owen,
N, 2001, The Magic of Metaphor,
Crown House Publishing, Carmarthen.
Anderson, H & Foley, E, 1998, Mighty Stories,
Dangerous Rituals,
Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Films used:
Patch
Adams, 1998
The
Matrix, 1999
Chocolat,
2000
Babette’s
Feast, 1987
The
Red Balloon, 1956
YouTube Clips
Plato’s
Cave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2afuTvUzBQ
Jeremy
Begbie
Duncan Strathie’s movie blog
www.meaninginmovies.blogspot.com
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