Well, here is what I see in the collage. We are supposedly made in the image of God. On the right is a painting filled with feminine images which could lead one to dwell on feminine Goddesses. These are seen in some of the statutes of Goddesses below in the collage. The picture of Moses,of the Jewish people with the snakes is all very phallic which moves us in he direction of the patriarchial God which supplanted the feminine Goddesses. Some of the statues below are masculine in form. Christianity comes along and says, "Our perspective on God comes from belief in Christ as 'the way, the truth the life"( the gospel reading for the week) None of the other paths to God's Truth and Love are acceptable. "Cross out all those other representations given by Buddhism, Kali, etc. etc. But, don't ya know, that adherents to other religions feel the same way about their beliefs that we feel about ours?
The hope to me through all this arrogance of upholding a particular belief as the only true one, is the little light bulb in the middle of the picture. We see by a night light like that one through the darkness of our own spiritual arrogance. The light bulb to me shines down the path of spiritual enlilghtenment which shows us that all our conceptions of God/Goddess are merely that --our IDEA of God, not God's REALITY. Hopefully our understanding of God will continue to grow and mature as we evolve spiritually over the millenia. With humility we must realize that our finite minds can never fully grasp the Infinite.
Had I written a detailed interpretation of the collage, Marion may not have worked out this wonderful story, which is way better than mine. That's the great thing about visual language. And as an art teacher, I was taught to let the kids talk about the art first, because when the artist talks about it, it's considered to be the "right" answer and imagination stalls.
The picture on the right is Matisse.
Marion said, "The light bulb to me shines down the path of spiritual enlightenment which shows us that all our conceptions of God/Goddess are merely that --our IDEA of God, not God's REALITY."
To which I ask, isn't the concept of "God's REALITY" also a human idea so how can you say that my conception of God is merely my idea while your conception of God (that there is a reality beyond ideas)is more than your idea and a statement of fact?
David, you do have a point. Whether, I view God as a Transcendent Presence who is "the More" a la Borg, or whether I view God as the totality of the Universe which the one universe believers accept--- both are our "ideas" of God. In the language of Immanuel Kant, we are both "stuck" with our perception of "the phenomenon",because we can never know "the thing in itself". ANd this is where the leap of faith comes in. What do I CHOOSE to believe---that in which I hope, or only that which I can prove? Ah, there's the question!!!
The choice between what I can hope and what I can prove is a false choice for me. I trust that helping is life's greatest value and that gives me hope that helping will result in justice and peace for all people on this planet. I can't prove that it will or that helping is the highest value. But I can follow all the evidence I can find and create a hopeful future that I can trust my life to. I do not limit myself to what I can prove and I will not claim anything as factual truth that I can't prove. And I will permit my hopes to be shaped by new evidence from any source.
