At this gathering we opened by musing a little on our respective religious denominational backgrounds. That was entirely congruent with the theme the president for the day had chosen, based on his own experience: “Inspired, not dictated to”. (We use the phrase “president for the day” as an apt label — our gatherings are led by anyone we invite to lead, so there is no assumed leadership role; and those individuals ‘preside’ over the gathering on that day.)
Our opening hymn included the words by John Andrew Storey: “Confucian wisdom, Christian care / The Buddhist way of self-control / The Muslim’s daily call to prayer / Are proven pathways to the goal. / From many lips, in every age / The truth eternal is proclaimed / By western saint and eastern sage / And all the good, however named.”
The president then suggested that it is necessary now and then to hear from one person as to their life experience, leaving open how commonalities or recognised points of reference may be related to by the other participants.
The bidding words from Rev David Usher called that we be bound in compassion, love and understanding to other human beings and the interdependent web of all living things; and affirmed that we came together to renew our faith in the holiness, the goodness, the beauty of life and reclaim the vision of an earth more fair with all her people one.
Two readings had been chosen. The first was a rich extract from Phaedrus, written by Plato as part of his record of what the teacher Socrates had taught. It spoke quite deliberately in figurative language, with Socrates developing a comprehensive metaphor for the experience of humankind — each person as a charioteer, struggling to control a mismatched pair of chariot horses; one divinely oriented, the other dropping ever downward to earth; the metaphor being robust enough to also accommodate the experience of the gods, as contrasted with human experience.
The Charioteer represents intellect, reason, or the part of the soul that must guide the soul to truth; one horse represents rational or moral impulse or the positive part of passionate nature (e.g., righteous indignation); while the other represents the soul's irrational passions, appetites, or concupiscent nature. The Charioteer directs the entire chariot/soul, trying to stop the horses from going different ways, and to proceed towards enlightenment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariot_Allegory
The second reading was a surprising contrast — it was the version of the parable Jesus had told about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37 NRSV).
While we were wondering what the interplay between the two readings could be made to be, we sang another hymn, ideally linked to the first reading: “It was the eager wish to soar / That gave the gods their wings. / … / The restless wish, the instant need / Still drove us up the slope.”
Then we were invited to give thanks for the gifts, challenges and blessings of the month that had passed since we last met, and to consider those aspects of our lives that we would most like to be washed away in healing and forgiveness. We spent seven minutes in silent meditation, then lit candles for our hopes for others known to us, and for our absent friends.
And then we heard directly from the president of the day about his own path through faith and the denomination he had been raised in, and how that colours his life of faith today. He explained from that context why he had chosen the two readings.
Looking at one person’s path as an example of how positions evolve, our president said that his experience had taught him the use of metaphors as a richer way of communication than mere transfer of information. Something extra, which cannot be easily defined, is conveyed, when we use language that is figurative.
Having been raised in a Roman Catholic environment, our president had relatively recently come to see that the word parable applies twice-fold to the New Testament. The routine use would be to use the word “parable” to point out the teaching stories ascribed to Jesus of Galilee. But the word “parable” may also be applied to the narratives in the New Testament about Jesus himself. For there was never the intention of the writers of the various books to merely convey information about the life of historical Jesus as he appeared in the common life: the writings were, right from the start, intended to evoke the passion of the hearer or reader. The books were intended to inspire, as those who had walked alongside Jesus had, in their turn, been inspired. It was very helpful for us to understand how his RC background had aided our president with this standpoint: this is in the latest version of the RC Catechism, at paragraphs 109-111:
109 In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.75
110 In order to discover the sacred authors' intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current. "For the fact is that truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts, and in other forms of literary expression."76
111 But since Sacred Scripture is inspired, there is another and no less important principle of correct interpretation, without which Scripture would remain a dead letter. "Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted in the light of the same Spirit by whom it was written."77
So summing up, our president said: “Words that inspire are never as simple as just a long or fancy way of saying something simpler. It's more and other than sharing information: it's igniting a passion.”
After some more music, the closing words were by Rev Andy Pakula:
Deep within you
Rev Andy Pakula
There is a place of peace
A place of wisdom,
A place of love.
May this sacred centre be your guide
May it be you strength for the journey
May it fill you with hope when all seems hopeless
And may it lead you to know the sacredness in all.
And we raised our voices to one of our favourite hymns, which is usually sung at Christmas but which we enjoy all year round: “Joy to the World, for peace shall come / Let this be our refrain! / In every heart, in every land / Let peace and freedom reign! / Let peace and freedom reign! / Let peace and love and freedom reign!”
