A bit of a grey day – the rain hasn’t started yet, but is predicted before too long. Sounds like the ideal to to stay inside and add to the Prayers for Places features.
For tomorrow’s lectionary, there’s a military metaphor (in 1 Thessalonians). I’ve known some people who turn away from military metaphors because they seem to give support to military activity. And certainly, it seems to me that the metaphors people use do give us some kind of insight into the people they are. But I’m not so sure about rejecting the military kind of metaphor. Because what Paul has in mind is a struggle completely unlike war. It’s the struggle of love against hatred, which takes place within us as much as it takes place beyond us. Maybe there’s an Islamic scholar out there who can say whether that’s paralleled in the notion of jihad.
But yes, we do choose metaphors that say something about us. I had my doubts about textile metaphors until I realised I was using them too. Jesus drew his illustrations from the social and economic life of his time, which was often brutal. One of our SAGEs gets inspiration from train travel. I sometimes choose sciencey metaphors which need more explaining than the actual thing I was trying to say; so, pointless really.
Also I’m a little confused by the fact there seem to be three different kinds of European men’s football happening during this international break. I’m not keeping up!
Living God,
bind us together in love
with all those people we
cannot see,
or touch,
or hear.