Giving up on the journey part 2
Last post touched on a desire of mine to move away from the metaphor of the spiritual life as a journey. To tear things down without offering alternatives to fill the space is not something that is ever productive and many times problematic. So an alternate metaphor to faith as going on a journey to faith as ice sculpting.
Ask a sculptor how they make a figure out of ice and they will tell you that they listen to the ice in order to understand how to work with it. The artist respects the shape and history of the ice in order to help bring out the potential it has within it. As the sculptor works with the ice, shapes take form.
The sculptor makes the ice. The ice is not the primary actor but it also not without input into the process.
There may be imperfections in the ice that result in an unintended fracture, but the sculptor works with it in order to find another way to shape the ice.
The ice is beautiful.
The ice is a paradox. It is hard yet also liquid. It is solid and temporary. It will melt in a blink of an eye. The sculptor lives on after ice melts.
While ice can be shaped it requires a bit of work on the part of the sculptor. And once the ice takes its form it resists changing. But it is not impossible.
And once melted, the sculptor can collect the water and use it again to create a new block with a new shape.
Although not perfect, the metaphor of faith as ice sculpting allows us to explore new ways to talk about faith and what it means to individuals and communities. We can pick it apart, as I have with the metaphor of journey, and find where it breaks down. But the beauty of this metaphor is that it is uncommon enough for everyone to know it is a metaphor and we can treat it as such.
Ask a sculptor how they make a figure out of ice and they will tell you that they listen to the ice in order to understand how to work with it. The artist respects the shape and history of the ice in order to help bring out the potential it has within it. As the sculptor works with the ice, shapes take form.
The sculptor makes the ice. The ice is not the primary actor but it also not without input into the process.
There may be imperfections in the ice that result in an unintended fracture, but the sculptor works with it in order to find another way to shape the ice.
The ice is beautiful.
The ice is a paradox. It is hard yet also liquid. It is solid and temporary. It will melt in a blink of an eye. The sculptor lives on after ice melts.
While ice can be shaped it requires a bit of work on the part of the sculptor. And once the ice takes its form it resists changing. But it is not impossible.
And once melted, the sculptor can collect the water and use it again to create a new block with a new shape.
Although not perfect, the metaphor of faith as ice sculpting allows us to explore new ways to talk about faith and what it means to individuals and communities. We can pick it apart, as I have with the metaphor of journey, and find where it breaks down. But the beauty of this metaphor is that it is uncommon enough for everyone to know it is a metaphor and we can treat it as such.
Spiritual Journey? Not for me.
Perhaps the most common metaphor to discuss the idea of faith or life is the metaphor of a journey.
In the church we use this metaphor a lot. We discuss how your "walk with Christ is going" or express we are on the "spiritual journey" or the "journey of faith". Even sermons are critiqued on if the preacher "got somewhere" in their sermon. You may have "arrived on a mountain top" in your life as you were "marching to Zion" or "walked in the valley of the shadow of death."
It is a rich metaphor which makes it difficult for me to abandon. But it seems like the church must put this metaphor down and learn to embrace other metaphors.
Why?
Because the underlying assumption in the journey metaphor is that there is a destination. We walk by faith toward some goal or until we arrive at a destination. When we use the journey metaphor there is an unspoken assumption that we would not be on the journey without the destination. No one likes the idea of "meandering" or "wondering" - even thought these are words that fit the journey metaphor they are rarely invoked in a positive light.
We want to reach for the "highest goal" that we "might receive the prize." Because "when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be".
The journey metaphor gives us a built in excuse to avoid religion all together if our lives are not moving toward the goal we feel we should be meeting. If our lives are not becoming better or if I "don't get anything out of it" then we are free, under the faith as a journey metaphor, to abandon religion and/or faith. Journey metaphor means that when we are not reaching the goal in a timely manner we have a crisis of faith and then we turn to the metaphor for some help in understanding only to find that everyone else seems to be suggesting that you are in fact being carried by Christ on your walk.
Finally, the metaphor of a journey is the fact that the primary actor in the metaphor is the individual. Not God or even the community, but the individual. We can be on a spiritual journey and not have room for God, which is fine for other religions but not Christianity.
To some the walk metaphor is comforting and I am glad that it is. However, for many people (this author included) this metaphor has too many problems to be held on to for much longer.
Do you have any suggestions?
In the church we use this metaphor a lot. We discuss how your "walk with Christ is going" or express we are on the "spiritual journey" or the "journey of faith". Even sermons are critiqued on if the preacher "got somewhere" in their sermon. You may have "arrived on a mountain top" in your life as you were "marching to Zion" or "walked in the valley of the shadow of death."
Why?
Because the underlying assumption in the journey metaphor is that there is a destination. We walk by faith toward some goal or until we arrive at a destination. When we use the journey metaphor there is an unspoken assumption that we would not be on the journey without the destination. No one likes the idea of "meandering" or "wondering" - even thought these are words that fit the journey metaphor they are rarely invoked in a positive light.
We want to reach for the "highest goal" that we "might receive the prize." Because "when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be".
The journey metaphor gives us a built in excuse to avoid religion all together if our lives are not moving toward the goal we feel we should be meeting. If our lives are not becoming better or if I "don't get anything out of it" then we are free, under the faith as a journey metaphor, to abandon religion and/or faith. Journey metaphor means that when we are not reaching the goal in a timely manner we have a crisis of faith and then we turn to the metaphor for some help in understanding only to find that everyone else seems to be suggesting that you are in fact being carried by Christ on your walk.
Finally, the metaphor of a journey is the fact that the primary actor in the metaphor is the individual. Not God or even the community, but the individual. We can be on a spiritual journey and not have room for God, which is fine for other religions but not Christianity.
To some the walk metaphor is comforting and I am glad that it is. However, for many people (this author included) this metaphor has too many problems to be held on to for much longer.
Do you have any suggestions?
Jesus in stained glass
If you have ever seared for Jesus in stained glass, you will find a number of picture of Jesus.Jesus on a cross. Jesus carrying a cross. Jesus with lambs. Jesus with kids. Jesus ascending. Jesus looking like he will karate chop you. Jesus looking like he will own you in a staring contest.
Loads of Jesuses (Jesi?).
We pick out images of Jesus that speak to us and then use those images to make stained glass. And have you noticed that so many of the images are of a peaceful Jesus?
I asked a group of people today that if they had one shot to commission a stained glass image of Jesus what would they choose?
The image you choose is more than what image you like. The image you choose reflects the image of God you have. The image of God you have directs the way you think about God. The way you think about God has a direct impact on how you live and function in the world.
Picking out an image of Jesus for a stained glass is a spiritual exercise. I would pick an image of Jesus turning over the tables or a picture of Jesus out of Mark 5.
You may recall a provocative set of pictures created around Jesus by LaChapelle. What is the artist saying with these images? What are you saying with yours?
Loads of Jesuses (Jesi?).
I asked a group of people today that if they had one shot to commission a stained glass image of Jesus what would they choose?
The image you choose is more than what image you like. The image you choose reflects the image of God you have. The image of God you have directs the way you think about God. The way you think about God has a direct impact on how you live and function in the world.
Picking out an image of Jesus for a stained glass is a spiritual exercise. I would pick an image of Jesus turning over the tables or a picture of Jesus out of Mark 5.
You may recall a provocative set of pictures created around Jesus by LaChapelle. What is the artist saying with these images? What are you saying with yours?
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.