Introduction
At the dawn of a new century, when a new culture is developping, when the first images of the “golbal village” appear, I would like to promote a way of communicating faith to Jesus more linked with the spirit of our time, media and technologies.
I would like to collaborate to the birth of the era of communications, denouncing fears, wrong ways and proposing a new picture of the world, integrating –in a Gospel perspective- globalisation, affectivisation, group and mass media. A new way of Spirituality. I would like to answer to the main distress of our time, the loss of our soul and inner being.
I propose : A faith more linked with the “global village”, this main stream that, secretly, drive our world. A faith that fit with the main problem and main aspiration of our timed of media culture and : unity of the world. I consider electronics (Computer, Internet, radio and TV) as the main historic chance to develop the unity of the world, peace and knowledge.
A faith more linked with the media culture. It means : based on the fundamental desires, drama and pleasures of humankind much more than based on teaching.
A faith that fit more with images and affects sleeping in each one each one and so much developped by this civilisation of media.
A faith branched on the daily suffering and fighting, solitude and fear of death.
A faith accomplishing the archetypes.
A faith that goes to reach a fullnes of life, never so much design in our time due the new technologies.
Applications of the Symbolic Way.
1. A spiritual exercise.
It is the more appropriate exercice and pedagogy to nurtur a spiritual life in a media culture, or for any person living and approching life with the primacy of the right brain. It could be understood as the Spiritual exercise of the new culture.
2. An exercise for a scenario. It is also the more appropriate exercice to prepare an audiovisual production or presentation.
An orientation of mind and action.It is a priviledge way to built the future of the world and the kingdom of God for our time.
Consider 3 ages :
After the resurrection of Jesus, the first missionaries – the apostles – travel all aroud their world to preach Jesus(oral culture)
With printing press, transmission linked with a literacy traduction of a knowledge (Gutenberg).
With electronic, a powerful language capable to reach intelligence and affectivity, body and imagination : ready for action and for evangelisation.
The symbolic way, an answer to the distresses of our time
To undesrstand better the Symbolic Way think of the great distresses of oour time, mainly of our culture and the media society.
I think the main distress of our time is for a lot of people the loss of the soul or – for young - the “ non-birth “ of the soul. By soul, I want to say an inner appreciation and motor of life, an inner breath that says : I am, I know, i appreciate, I want by myself, from a depth of myself. The great distress is a decentring of the self.
Advertising, the attraction of outside calls, the appeals of outside world, the social necessity “to be in” are so strong that they procure a kind of collective aborption of the soul. We are out of ourselves. We are like the adversising, our friends, society, business people want us to be. Media replace the emprisonment of the village and give to us a costume, a pasport to become human are out in this time. Being faithful to my soul is replaced by being consistant with the to day’s world.
That is to day the mortal sin. Even the voice of autorithy, instead of talking to the heart or to intelligence, talk to reinforce our external, social needs. The boy of the novel of A de Chateaubriand was looking day and night at the image of the rock in the mountain : “centemplate is to become”, says the author. To day we don’t contemplate the transcendant image printed in the mountain, we contemplate our image in the shopping center, TV and news paper.and we become like. That’s the unconscius mortale sin. People living in a village kept their soul thanks to a kind of fundamental fidelity to the laws and traditions of the village: one could not move aside without feeling excluded, like a fish jumping outside the water.
To day, in the global village, there is no longer my neighbour’s eyes - the village’s eyes- to watch after me. There is the noise of TV and the streets, there are publicity asking me : did you buy ? Be 'IN' and thats enough. At the end, people will take you to the cemetery, with tons of flowers lying on your coffin, and an article in the newspaper. Be IN, my friend, that is the Kingdom of God.
The main effect of Symbolic Way : The first result of the Symbolic Way is that we rediscover our soul and establish it as a main driving force of our life. A teaching, a sermon may again make us go outside ourselves, and instead of making us rediscover our centre, our soul, throw us in intellectual reflections, considerations and reasoning. The Symbolic Way says NO and brings us face to face with ourselves.
Why would the sensorial Symbolic way be superior to the way of literacy to awaken and found securely the Christian illumination of the faith? that is the question to solve. Is it because the sensorial way is the child’s way? Because immersion gives you birth to yourself better than ideas? Because nothing will stand fast in the electronic world if it is not founded on an awakening of the self. Because in order to awaken the deep self you have to proceed as if you were awakening a child : begin with the sensitive and not with the intellect?
One proposes an another perspective : the voice of the senses is neither superior nor inferior : doesn’t it depend on sensitivity and the form of spirit of each one ?
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