Holy Metaphors, Batman!

For the past two weeks I was in a mini-class with the House of Humane Letters, where Angelina Stanford took us through Harry Potter Books 4 & 5, and as usual with Angelina, it was about more than that. When Angelina teaches one story, she is teaching you about all stories as she covers all the traditional ideas and images that the author is bringing to the story.

One of the layers JK Rowling brought to her stories was Alchemy. This goes back to Book 1 with its title The Philosopher’s Stone, and is especially present in Book 4 The Goblet of Fire. I was amazed to learn that Alchemy was never about getting rich, as you worked to refine your ore through various stages until you had gold. I should say True Alchemy because, as you might note, in life and in story, there are always false versions (parodies) of true images. To the medievals, who were so steeped in seeing metaphorically, this process was an image of the journey of the soul, the refinement that would lead to perfection (completion).

As I was processing (ha!) this new information about Alchemy, I thought, ‘Isn’t this what the storyteller is doing? Showing us the transcendent truth of our life’s journey?’ Because metaphor and images take us deeper and are more lasting than mere facts, both the storyteller and the alchemist can use his material craft to show us these spiritual truths.

Then I thought about Christ, the master story-teller, with his parables, using physical images to point us to spiritual reality. And as I continued thinking about the alchemist, I recalled this from the prophet Jeremiah:

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:1-6

The Lord tells the prophet to go watch the physical labor of the potter and learn a spiritual truth. There are several other occasions where the Old Testament prophets were told by God to observe something or do something (Ezekiel lying on his side for over a year!) to illustrate a prophecy or other unseen spiritual reality. As I have been learning these past few years, when it comes to metaphor, there are layers of meaning. Yes, the physical thing is actually happening, but more importantly it is pointing to an transcendent, eternal truth. For instance: Yes, you are really married to your spouse, but that marriage is also an image of Christ and his Church. Both are true. And while living and doing our daily labor in our current physical state, we can see those transcendent connections and grow in knowledge and spiritual strength about the truth that lies beyond the veil at the end of our journey here on Earth.

And now I come to my husband who, while he’d rather be making a full-time living from writing and teaching, finds himself earning his keep from manual labor. I think of the alchemist and potter who illustrate the work of God and the journey of every soul, and what they are continually learning about the spiritual truths that the work of their own hands are showing them. The story-teller and the craftsman are not only showing you, but they are being reminded themselves. Is it possible that my husband’s work is more than massaging dents out of cars for people who have good insurance? Does it have more meaning? A transcendent reality that can strengthen his own soul while he’s on life’s journey?

It’s a struggle in our material, utilitarian age, but we can get back to the medieval mind that found joy in his labor as he reflected on the eternal truths that were being shown to him. Is it a waste of time this crafting of whatever kind? I’m sure some are thinking what a waste of time for the Alchemist to not have a goal of real gold. Some Christians say even the story-telling, the writing (and reading) of fiction, is a waste of time. This was not so before our modern age brought on by the so-called Enlightenment. (Yes, they were so full of themselves …mirror, mirror on the wall..that they named the era themselves.) Prior to that, humans at every economic and educational level believed in a reality beyond our material world, and saw in nature, in the arts, in stories, and in their our labors images pointing to that reality.

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him [Abram]: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
~Genesis 15

Can you count the stars of evening
That are shining in the sky?
Can you count the clouds that daily
Over all the world go by?
God the Lord, who doth not slumber,
Keepeth all the boundless number:
But He careth more for thee,
But He careth more for thee.
~Johann Wilhelm Hey

What can I learn from just gazing at the stars? What can I learn from my daily work at home and with my students? What can I learn from hearing the stories and watching craftsman at work? The images are all around us and point up and out. Keep looking around and up, my friends.

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