Great Stories

Metaphorical Truth

“Metaphor is a way of thinking which imaginatively transfers qualities of one thing to something else, to which they are not literally applicable. It was once memorably—and metaphorically—described as a tool left behind by God in the race of human beings...which He had created.”

                                David Ross (1001 Pearls of Wisdom)

Jesus was a great user of metaphor in his story telling. He switched things around to make a point in ways that must have driven the authorities of his day mad. He compared them to goats and to snakes—even to a nest of vipers! He told stories of a prodigal Jewish son feeding pigs and actually wanting to eat the slop given them, and of the kindness of a Samaritan to a Jew, when Samaritans were considered unclean. He told stories of good shepherds, who were on the bottom rung of the social ladder, and of good women, who weren't even on the ladder at all. He spoke of narrow ways and wide ones, and told the authorities that they were on the wrong one. He spoke of God as a gentle father, a mother hen, a woman's womb, and compared the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, a bit of yeast, also considered unacceptable, and told stories of bride grooms and vineyard owners, of beggars, and poor widows. He told the clean, conservative, religious people of his day that all these lowly and despised people would enter the kingdom of heaven before them because of their injustice to the less fortunate—he compared it to swatting a gnat and swallowing a camel, or pointing out a mote in a brother's eye while ignoring a log in their own.

All great story tellers use metaphor as a means of getting a point across. The Bible is replete with metaphorical stories that, when taken as such, are wonderful teachings. I think of stories such as David and Goliath, which is about overcoming seemingly impossible odds, and Samson and Delilah, about losing confidence and becoming impotent in the face of that loss. There's the story of Job's unshakable faith, and the story of Joseph and his many colored coat, about taking the worst possible circumstances and using one's gifts to find a way out. Wonderful teachings; timeless and memorable. Whether they actually happened matters not at all; they are still “true.”

I encourage you to read the old stories with new eyes. How are you like Job, or like Samson? How are you like Nicodemus, or the woman at the well? What are the metaphorical lessons taught in the stories of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal son? These stories, and many others, are like diamonds hidden deep in the earth. They require excavation, bringing to the surface, cleaning, and cutting before their brilliance shines through.

                                       In the Spirit,

                                           Jane