The ring of (metaphorical) truth

 March 26, 2018

 

God is not elsewhere.

 

Become silent and let the silence fill your body and mind.

 

The New Testament stories about resurrection are symbols of wholeness.

 

The appearance in Luke 24 where they recognize him in the breaking of the bread is obviously a metaphorical story about encountering the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

 

The resurrection appearance of Christ in John 21 is a metaphor of how Christ invites us to ‘come ashore’ during our ordinary life and work.

 

The vision that Paul had of the resurrected Christ on his way to Damascus is a metaphor of the ‘visions’ and ‘voices’ that come to us on our journey.

 

The resurrected body which is part of the new creation is a metaphor of our  undiscovered possibilities.

 

The resurrection appearances have Jesus appearing and disappearing out of thin air. He appears to disciples, then, ‘poof’ – he dematerializes and disappears. Is this a parable of the Christian life? Isn’t this how our faith journey operates? Christ is not there all the time. Sometimes he appears, and then disappears. In those ‘in-between’ times he doesn’t seem to be around.

 

The early church fathers wrote about the Scriptures in a creative, loose, free allegorical way, therefore they must’ve understood the Scriptures to be of that nature.

 

The gospels no longer have the ring of (historical) truth to me; they don’t resonate as actual historical happenings. Now they seem more like metaphors or parables. Which gives them more depth and meaning.

 

 

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