Find your own meaning

A disciple once complained, "You tell us stories, but you never reveal their meaning to us."

Said the master, "How would you like it if someone offered you fruit and masticated it before giving it to you?"

No on can find your meaning for you. Not even the master.

Anthony de Mello, SJ

Comments

[jim]

Your post reminds me of the current tv commercial where the guy orders a hotdog and the vendor takes a bite out of it before giving it to him. I also think, though, of the fellow in Acts who replied to Phillip: "How can I understand except someone explain it to me?" So I guess what I prefer is better likened unto the idea of "breaking bread together". We're all not trying to sup soup out of the same bowl, but can be willing to share a hunk from the one loaf while discussing its consistency, taste, and origin.........

[Kevin Powell]

***Said the master, "How would you like it if someone offered you fruit and masticated it before giving it to you?"***

That sounds like something we do for children, and for many, such mastication is needed.

kgp

[Julie]

To some extent we derive meaning from stories by seeing them through the lenses of others. But sometimes we rely on those lenses too much to the exclusion of the unique word that God may be speaking to us. Yes, it can get a little messy and confusing. But it's worth tangling with.

In true dialogue or discussion with others, including children, I think that we have to make every effort to convey meaning without imposing our own experience and context upon the other person. A challenging task indeed.

We hold so many stories in common --- e.g., the Bible, the Catholic tradition, etc. It's important that we each appreciate the "common meaning" ascribed to the story and that we each take to heart the message of the story and its meaning in our own lives.

[Steve Bogner]

That's what I like about de Mello - he gets people thinking :)

Jim - Having shared bread with you at the soup bowl, I can appreciate your imagery. Discussing, tasting, etc - sounds like each finding his own meaning from the food at hand.

Kevin, I can see your point in that some people need some initial help with 'chewing the fruit,' getting the basic understandings, the basic framework.

Julie - Thanks for dropping by and commenting! On the one hand, it's good that people don't put their own meaning into a story; but on the other hand, sometimes that personal touch can help strike a chord within ourselves (in my opinion).

[Ming Chen]

Hello,

I agree with the Master's approach. Every one of us is unique in life's experience. Master can open a door for us, we need to go through the experience ourselves in order to truly understand what is essential for our growth.

[Searching For Holiness]

With out learning on our own and figuring things out, no matter how hard it is, the gifts of God would be worthless. Yes it would be easier for Christ to just tell us what everything means, but even I as blind as I can be, recognize that it is the struggle in understanding everything that we do begin to learn and understand "what its all about".

[Maria]

Thanks for sharing!
In Jesus,
Maria in the UK
www.inhishands.co.uk

[Steve]

Wonderful lines from Anthony de Mello, Steve. I'm a writing/rhetoric teacher (college level), and I can't help note how applicable this vignette is to the classroom. Many students come to college expecting that teachers will "fill" them with knowledge. (This perspective has been derided by Paulo Friere as the "banking" model of education...i.e., open me up, poor in the coins, and pretty soon I'll have everything I need.) Real learning involves much more active engagement by the learner -- sometimes it requires students to wrestle, and wrestle hard, with challenging concepts, and the teacher's most effective role is often that of the coach rather than the "banker" (to use Freire's term) or the "pre-chewer" of knowledge (my ineloquent attempt to reflect the de Mello vignette!). It's tempting to chew knowledge into small, discrete bites for students, but when I do that, I'm doing them a disservice in the long haul. Anyway...thanks for making me reflect further on my own profession.