Tag Archives: Metaphor

Archetypes Sermon Series, Sermons, Symbols and Metaphors

SERMON: All Wet – The Archetype of Water in the Scriptures

On Sunday, February 11, 2018, the Rev. Dr. Arthur Suggs continued with — as he said — “a series of sermons on primal archetypes that wind their way through the scriptures, bend their way through the world’s religions, and churn their way through our lives.

First in the series was trees, the second was mountains, the third was light, the fourth was music, and this sermon explores the archetype of water.”

The Rev. Dr. Arthur Suggs

Flying over an Archetypal 
Symbol, I Am Disconcerted by
the Absence of Terra Firma.

I had a marvelous experience a number of years ago when a friend of mine who is a pilot had a three-day meeting in San Juan. He asked me if I could take three days and go with him. He lived in Kansas City, so he flew his four-seat airplane to the Binghamton regional airport, picked me up, and then we flew down to Miami, crossing over Washington, D.C., airspace, where I learned they’re rather picky about that.

We landed in Miami and were told we needed to pick up a little box that went at my feet, which was an inflatable life raft in case things go bad. That was at my feet as we left Miami heading for San Juan, Puerto Rico. Shortly after taking off, we flew at 7,000 feet, and the big planes were at 40,000 feet, zooming past us as we puttered along.

We were not far out, just 15 minutes out of Miami, when I fully realized there was no land in sight. Wherever I looked, there was nothing but ocean, and it stayed that way for quite a while. It was a little disconcerting being in a tiny airplane, and a little statistic came to mind — three-quarters of the earth is covered with ocean.

Suddenly, it seemed like a lot of water.

What I’m going to do is to give you two brief overviews, and then to look in detail at two passages from the Bible, which happen to say the same thing.

Two overviews first: The symbolism of water is huge.

It’s everywhere, and so what I’d like to look at is the concept of dream symbolism.

You see a waterfall, for instance, or a geyser or a river in your dreams. What does that mean? There are symbols, meanings that go with images of water.  Here are a few of them:

Triple Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon. Photo by Rocketstove, CC PD Wikimedia.

Symbols of Dreams About 
Various Kinds of Water

Ice — For example, if you dream about ice, there’s a situation in your life that’s frozen or static and needs to be thawed out.

Muddy or murky water — The situation is unclear and needs to be clarified.

Splashing water — There’s a need for arousal, for awakening.

Steam, vapor, mist, fog — Not all has been revealed; not all is known.

Ocean — A classic symbol of infinity. Either standing on a beach and looking out as far as the eye can see or flying in an airplane gazing in any direction.

Tides — Are symbolic of the natural rhythm of things. Beyond that, there’s a powerful rhythm. In other words, it’s foolish to fight against it.

Snow — Represents quiet and peace.

Flood — This is a complex image because it’s both bad and good. It means too much, to the point of danger. It means damage and loss, but it also means judgment. In addition, it means destroying in order to purify.

Spring rains — Mean warmth, growth, softening, renewal.

Lake — This is also complex. It means unrealized potential because you see only what’s on the surface, and there’s so much underneath that has yet to emerge.

Puddle — Symbolizes play, childhood, fun, carefree; go ahead and get dirty.

Cross and Church at St. Patrick’s Well, Marlfield. By Rustythedog, CC via Wikimedia.

Stream, river — Another symbol for infinity; ever flowing, never stopping.

Oasis — Water in the desert; a place of safety or refuge, away from danger.

Well — One of the most extraordinary symbols of all. Like the ocean or the stream, it’s one of the most pregnant symbols of all time. Its meaning is to go deeper to find life-giving water. Go deeper in sports, meaning to try harder. In our intellect, in our spirituality, going deeper to find nourishment, to find reward.

These are only a few examples of water symbols — 14 of them if you were counting, out of dozens and dozens.

Overview Number Two —
Classic Bible Texts
 Concerning Water

The second overview on water is to look at these classic texts in the Bible about water, that reference water — the same profound and important things, using water as imagery. Let me give you a handful of these:

Genesis 1:1 — “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”

Rainy Season in the Tropics, 1866, by Frederic Edwin Church, Hudson River School. PD.

This is a philosophical passage. That primal, chaotic, formless potential that God’s spirit swept over in order to begin creation. It’s a poetic way of wording it. Some of the other texts are a bit tough.

Amos 5:21 and 23-24 — Fantastic imagery but extremely judgmental. God is speaking, “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. // Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. // But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.”

Jeremiah 2:12-13 — An equally judgmental passage. “Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, // for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, // the fountain of living water and dug out cisterns for themselves, // cracked cisterns that can hold no water.”

John 7:37 — “On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which they were to receive . . . .”

 

Download the Full Sermon: All Wet – Water in Scripture

Featured Image Credit: Clouds over the Atlantic Ocean, Brazil. By Tiago Fioreze, CC Wikimedia.

Archetypes Sermon Series, Epiphany, Sermons, Symbols and Metaphors

SERMON: Darkness Shall Not Overcome – The Universal Symbolism of Light

On the fourth Sunday after Epiphany (January 28, 2018), in a series of sermons on the great archetypes in the bible, the Rev. Dr. Arthur Suggs reflected, and spoke, on the universal, multi-tradition symbolism of Light and the power to overcome those deep valleys of unknowing, uncertainty, fear, and even despair.

Others in the Great Archetypes series include Trees, Mountains, Music, and Water. (You’ll see those in the Recent Posts at the sidebar if they’ve been uploaded to date.)

Rev. Suggs began the sermon on the archetype of Light with the following:

“Far, we’ve been traveling far without a home, but not without a star.” ~ Neil Diamond, America

“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” ~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

“Look to my coming, at first light, on the fifth day. At dawn look to the East.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, Gandalf in Lord of the Rings

He says, “You are the moon of my life.” And she replies, “My sun and my stars.” ~ George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones, Khal Drogo to his Khaleesi

LIGHT …

… Is a powerful metaphor
 and a dynamic symbol in
 all parts of our culture.

Expulsion – Moon and Firelight, 1828, by Thomas Cole. {{PD-US}}

In paintings of every type, the artist plays an unusual dual role by painting light itself as an important motif in the picture and then by lighting the whole picture.

In stage and theater, the art of lighting can spell the pinnacle of performance or the death of dreams.

Throughout literature, authors depend on light to excite their insight. I have provided a few examples from various media.

Light permeates all of theological printing and speaking, and it is found virtually everywhere in the sciences.

Even a musical concert can be enhanced or ruined by the lighting. The solo spotlight on a piano performance. Or the lasers and the burst of flame at a rock concert. Or — and you’ll find this hard to believe — spotlights on preachers.

Light has pervaded our language:

Light at the End of the Tunnel. PD Image Segugio.

“There’s light at the end of the tunnel,” an expression that we use when we’ve been trudging through something, and “Finally there’s a measure of hope at the end.”

In American politics, pretty much every four years or so, we have “The dawning of a new era.” Reagan got a lot of mileage out of “Morning in America.”

Or we hire an expert to “Shed light on the subject,” whatever it might be.

The imagery infuses our soul as well:

  • Starlight to a sailor.
  • Sunlight to a prisoner.
  • Moonlight to lovers.
  • Candlelight to a scholar.
  • The light of a campfire to old friends.
  • A light in the window to someone who is lost.
  • And a thousand other examples.

Here are some samples from the Bible. These are among the few equations of God:

“God is light.” It doesn’t say, “God is the light.” It doesn’t say, “God is a light.” It just says, “God is light.” God equals light. There is only a handful of other equations like this: God is spirit, God is bread, God is love.” ~ The First Letter of John, Chapter 1, Verse 5

Light Through a Stained Glass Window. PD Stockphotos.

The Letter of Paul to the Philippians, Chapter 2, Verse 15, speaks to the children of God, this is for you: “Shining stars in the sky.”

“Let your light so shine before others.” Don’t put a bushel basket over it. Let it shine the way the song says. ~ The Gospel According to Matthew, Chapter 5, Verse 16The first Letter of

Or in Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonions, Chapter 5, Verse 5: “You are children of the light, and children of the day.”

Preacher: I’ve Been Here Long 
 Enough, and You’ve Heard Me 
 Long Enough to Know That . . .

. . . many of the aspects of standard orthodox Christianity don’t suit me very well.

There’s an example with the notion that “God is light.”  So it says in The First Letter of John, and then in the Gospel of John he adds two more verses to it.

Now I want to put the three of them together, and you tell me what you think it means:

As mentioned, in his First Epistle, John says, “God is light.” But then, in the Gospel According to John, Jesus is recounted as saying, “I am the light of the world.”

Now bear in mind that he spoke problematically in Aramaic, translated into Greek, and then translated into English.

I Am the Light of the World, c. 1900-1904, by William Holman Hunt, St. Paul’s, London.

Fortunately, the linguistic construction is identical in all three languages. “I am” is both the belief of referring to “me” or it’s the name of God. Either he’s saying “I am the light of the world,” citing himself that he, Jesus, is the light of the world, or he might be saying, “God is the light of the world.”

To add to the confusion, a little later he says, “You are the light of the world.”

There’s a part of me that wants to take all this at face value and ask, “How are we to understand this?” And so I’ve got these three thoughts here — “God is light,” “I am the light of the world,” and “You are the light of the world.”

At face value, the only conclusion I can come to is that there is a linkage between our physical being — who we are as homo sapiens, as organisms — and divinity.

There’s a linkage, an identity linkage, that either we want to deny it or ignore it or just set it aside and never preach on it, but it’s there in the background.

A Series of Archetypes:
 Here Are Two Lessons
 from the Notion of Light

We’ve been looking at deep archetypes that run through scripture, and this is the third in a series.

We looked at trees two weeks ago; we looked at mountains a week ago; the notion today is light; and next Sunday it’s music. I’d like to offer two lessons from this notion of light, pervading its way through the scriptures but beyond the scriptures, infusing their way into every facet of human existence.

Read the rest of this sermon:

Download PDF of The Darkness Shall Not Overcome – The Symbol and Metaphor of Light in Christian Scripture

Featured Image Credit: Beam of sun light inside the cavity of Rocca ill’Abissu at Fondachelli Fantina, Sicily. By Fediona; Creative Commons via Wikimedia.