Analogies and Metaphors

 

When Words Fail 

I can ask a roomful of people to think of a dog and be absolutely certain that no one will picture the same dog as I did.  Further I doubt any two people will ever think of the same dog, even though we know dogs are real.  So why would any two people think of the same god?  Words just don't mean the same thing to everyone.  Words change meanings when translated into another language or over time.  And words can be misheard, repeated wrong, edited and altered.

 

Language both connects and divides us.  Words are limiting.  They have to be spoken in a strict order rather than conveying the confusion of coincidence.  Everything we try to describe becomes smaller and simpler.

 

GDW does not communicate in words because words are inefficient.   The information that comes from beyond floods in, overwhelming in its depth and complexity.  Some parts will spark into wisdom or into genius, but the spark shrinks in scope when put into words. 

 

Accepting that we do not have the ability to communicate directly mind to mind (oh, to be a Vulcan)  we are left with words, but have to accept the limitations.  Hence when describing the indescribable we rely on analogies, metaphors and similes.  (Just Google the terms like I did)  This is why Buddha and Jesus opted to explain their ideas in parables.  We also rely on images and music to give our minds what is needed to understand concepts too complex for verbal definition.  So I will be adding images created to reflect some of my analogies.

 

And before anyone gets riled that I liken the afterlife to oceans, islands and hedge mazes instead of the classic Heaven and Hell, no one knows what follows death.  NO ONE!   

 

When it comes to talking about religion -- or for that matter, any human interaction -- I see an ocean full of islands.   Each island is separated by the ocean, but the ocean is also what connects them.  

 

 

The ocean is GDW or the Holy Spirit or something equally neutral that surrounds, separates and connects us all.  In this analogy I prefer to focus on the ocean rather than the islands.