There are times in life when the metaphorical puzzle pieces simply fall into place to produce a picture much more elaborate than the one that was expected. Take for example a recent moment of understanding I experienced when pieces from what I thought were at least two different puzzles suddenly fit together and showed me something I didn’t expect from either one of them individually.
Not more than a few days ago, I completed a reading of Parker Palmer’s book Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. In it, among the myriad wise counsels offered by that Quaker sage, I found a reflectionof the importance of understanding and choosing carefully the metaphors used in any process of observation or thought. For example, the repetitive references to military terminology in the world of buisiness (marketing “campaigns,” “flanking” the competition, “strategic advantage,” etc.) may subtly influence the manner in which companies are organized and administrated, as well as how firms behave in the world of commerce as a whole.
As I am prone to do, at the same time as I was reading Dr. Palmer’s book, I was (and still am) reading through a new edition of the Bible that recently arrived in my post box: The Green Bible. Recently released by HarperOne, this new edition of the New Revised Standard Version of both the Hebrew and Greek testaments is published in a completely recycled, Earth-friendly assembly of materials and includes a number of additional introductory as well as appendix essays designed to draw out the importance of creation care – that is, a Christian (perhaps even a more broadly ecumenical) approach to issues of conservation and environmental awareness – as supported by the text of the scriptures.
While I studied in the Department of Religion at Lewis & Clark College during my undergraduate years, my focus was more on the subject of historical interpretation of the Bible than it was on topics of interpretive or applied theology; these are subjects that I took up far later in life and about which I am still actively engaged in absorbing new approaches and techniques. My reading of The Green Bible has done much to broaden my awareness of many aspects of creation care theology about which I was previously unaware and as a result has been of great assistance in promoting a mindset of applying interpretive theology to other topics I have not previously contemplated through this perspective.
So it was that I was watching Charlie Rose interview Gwen Ifill’s on his PBS television program the other night when I found myself caught up in a meditation on a comment made by Ms. Ifill. For those who may not know, Ms. Ifill is a journalist of the first order, the author of the recent book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama and served as the moderator of one of the most famous of the debates in the recently concluded U.S. presidential election. While discussing all the projects in which U.S. President Obama is presently engaged and the question of whether it is too many or whether it is imperative that they all be undertaken now, Ms. Ifill concluded a metaphor referencing the juggling of torches with the comment that (paraphrasing) what will be interesting is to see which if any of them drop.
I don’t quite know why this struck me as a curious thing to say. After all, I had been listening to both Mr. Rose and Ms. Ifill, two people for whom I hold great respect, discussing in very intelligent and positive terms the initial achievements of the present U.S. administration. This wasn’t FOX, it was PBS – no malice was either implied or assumed. Yet the use of the dropped torch metaphor representing someting as exceedingly important as health care reform, stabilizing the housing market, or correcting the excesses of the financial system bothered me. I finally happened upon a reason why with the thought that it was nothing personally or journalistically meant by Ms. Ifill; it was simply a result of the dominant metaphor of the modern twenty-four hour news cycle being employed: watching. More often than not, as a society, we watch – we don’t act, we just watch for the next thing to happen. The more dramatic, the better.
I attribute this realization to some of the essays included I have been reading in The Green Bible. One of the appendices included in that book details page after page of what people should consider doing in order to practice more effective creation care. There are no meditations or reflections to ponder, only actions. This has been one of the things that has most impressed me about The Green Bible – it’s focus on action. We have been given this world by God (no divergences into or inferences about creationism / evolution here please) and as such we have the immense responsibility to care for it as such. To engage in this care is to take action.
Many might be familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan as it is recorded in the Gospel according to St. Luke, chapter 10, verses 30-37:
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
While this has long been one of my favorite Gospel parables, the fitting together of the pieces from Dr. Palmer’s observations about the framing of metaphors, Ms. Ifill’s comment, and The Green Bible’s supporting essays brought into my awareness a new interpretation of the parable’s meaning. It is about the importance of action. Passing by is the equivalent of merely watching the news about the challenges, be they economic, political, or environmental, presently facing the global community. Stopping to look is learning that there are things that one might be able to do, however small it may be, to contibute to a positive resolution of one of these challenges – but then not doing it. However by knowing, learning, and as a result taking action, the robbed and beaten man (a superbly effective metaphor for either the present global economic situation or the state of the environment) may be helped and returned to wellness and health.
