Today, often times, we find folks looking for symbols in things. What does this mean or what does that mean. After every political debate, political interview or even political announcement such as the State Of The Union Address, there is always some “Expert” that follows up the show with a very long explanation of what the person(s) who just spoke actually said or meant by what they said. This, of course, can only mean that the speaker didn’t mean exactly what they said, they didn’t say exactly what they meant, or only the “Experts” can actually understand them. Well, I have to dismiss that last one because the “Experts” always seem to find a way to disagree on what the speaker said or meant by what they said. In other words, if “Experts” are not in agreement, then at least one of the “Experts” has to be wrong. Without debating which is right or which is wrong, I can only suggest that we may ignore them both on the basis that trying to figure out which one is right and which one is wrong shifts our thoughts from the speaker, so that instead of finding out what the speaker meant, we end up in a debate over what the “Experts” think they meant. That is once removed from the person we were interested enough in the opinion of, to listen to in the first place. I mean, if all we wanted was the “Expert’s” opinion, then why listen to the original presentation at all? Why not skip that step and listen to the “Expert”? The answer is that we don’t actually consider them to be “Experts.” They have considered themselves “Experts” and are trying to convince us it is so, because they want us to listen to them, instead of anyone else. Do you see how easy it is to get off the subject when symbolism comes into play?
I remember when Bob Dylan, the singer/songwriter/poet was interviewed after a concert in London, England. Mr. Dylan wrote songs that incorporated poetic license and much was said about the interpretation of the symbolism that his lyrics might represent. When asked after that particular concert what the lyrics to a certain song symbolized, he responded to the interviewer with this question: “Well, I don’t know; what does it mean to you? It doesn’t matter what it means to me. You need to figure out for yourself what it means to you.” The rest of the interview pretty much went back and forth like that. The result was that the interviewer never really got a real interview of Bob Dylan, because he allowed himself to be sidetracked seeking after the illusive, “Symbolism.”
Looking for symbolism in everything, especially Christianity, faith and the Bible, is often too distracting to be helpful, fruitful or productive. I feel that sometimes we are trying to add mysticism to our faith by looking for symbolism everywhere, rather than demystifying it by looking at God as a real Father, who participates in our lives relationally, instead of mystically.
Maybe we could start today. Instead of looking to unlock mystical symbolisms of faith, let’s begin to look for God the Father’s loving hand, which has been touching our lives from the beginning. Let’s see where we can recognize the symbol of His constant presence in our lives.
Blessings!

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