Never forget. He was not a Christian. Ovid was a story-teller busy about his work when Jesus was walking with his disciples in Galilee. His influence was vast – on his contemporaries and on later poets like Shakespeare. Perhaps he did something to inspire R.C. Sherriff’s ‘Journey’s End ‘ One of his creations was ‘Metamorphoses’ {transformations). Bunyan learned from him. So did medieval cathedral-builders. So did farmers. Each in his own way (or their own way) imprinted the Gospel on minds in pictures from daily life.
Bunyan taught us that life as a Christian can be seen as a journey. After losing his burden, Pilgrim meets an array of people – Talkative, Pliable, Giant Despair, Worldly Wiseman – the shop-keepers of Vanity Fair, most of whom represent temptations to turn aside and take a by-way, forgetting the point of Pilgrim’s journey. This on-the-move interpretation of the Christian faith is popular among church leaders today.
Cathedral-builders saw their activity as an expression of faith, homage to a beneficent Maker. Their soaring buildings, constructed without modern technology or materials, continue to shape our understanding of the mind of the Maker.
Christianity is much like farming. Seed is sown in faith. A hand is put to the plough. Men become shepherds. Life is a matter of steering life into channels that benefit a human population.
Christianity is about transformation. About transforming individuals, yes. But also about transforming the vehicle of the Gospel message. We can all make sense of a journey, or a building project, or a use of farmland. It is a matter of finding new and appropriate metaphors for expressing the Christian faith in a digital age. Where are those who will take up that task?
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