A SPACIOUS PLACE

I will walk about in freedom,

for I have sought your precepts.

Palm 119:45

Walk about in freedom -
a wide space
unconfined by affliction or oppression,
a spacious place where one is free to roam,
unconfined by the threats and dangers
that would hem one in.

When one is afflicted with oppression,
it is like being
bound by fetters;
held fast by cords
of such oppressive affliction,
one is bound by chains.

One yearns to be set free,
to be delivered and brought
to a spacious place
free from ruthless restriction.

Yet free from one's choice chains,
should not one be wise
to not indulge oneself
rather than
to look to the need of others?

It is for freedom that one has been set free -

self-indulgence enslaves one's will,

while self-control enhances joy.

A spacious place is merely wilderness
unless one finds the proper path
which one can follow safely,
without aimless wandering, but
with a sense of being led,
lightly burdened, easily yoked,
and freely gifted
with all that freedom offers.

UNHYPOCRITICAL FAITH

PUTTING ON CHRIST PROPERLY

The goal of this command is love,

which comes from

a pure heart

&

a good conscience

&

an unhypocritical faith.

(I Timothy 1:5)

The Christian persona is too often a mere caricature

of who Christ Jesus has called his followers to be.

The word most associated with this false persona is

"hypocrite."

The word "hypocrite" comes from the Greek, hypocrites, which translates as "one playing a part" or "actor." As a Greek theatrical term, the word literally means, "to answer from under a mask" (hypo = under; krites = answer). Ancient Greek theatre has contributed many words to English, including the word "theater" itself (from the verb theasthai meaning "behold"; a theater was literally a "place for viewing"). In early Greek drama, plays were presented communally by a choral group, the chorus; at some point, an actor was introduced to answer questions posed by the chorus. (The name of that first actor was Thespis, from which we get the name commonly applied to any actor, "thespian.") Actors in Greek plays often wore masks, designed with a trumpeted mouthpiece to amplify the voice. The mask that the actor wore showed the "person" (from persona, Latin [per = through; sona = sound] word also used for "mask") whom the actor was representing. One had to look under (hypo-) the mask to discover the identity of the one giving the answer (-crite)!

The Christian mask a hypocrite wears

may very well fool everyone,

except God, who always sees under the mask!

In Galatians 2:13 we read of how others joined Peter in his hypocrisy (synhypokrithesan) "so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray." Paul immediately recognized that such hypocrisy was "not acting in line with the truth of the gospel" (verse 14). Living like thiswas antithetical to living faithfully the way Jesus called his disciples to follow. Rather, Paul writes that, in order to live for God, "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 5:20).

The process of faithful imitation of Christ is found in Ephesians 4:21 - 5:1.

• Put off the old self, be renewed, put on the new self in Christ:

"Surely your heard of Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to pur on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

• This new life leaves no place for hypocrisy:

"Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body."

• Speech has to be more than mere chatter and malicious gossip:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

• First among those listening is All-seeing God, who despises hypocrisy:

"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption"

(cf. Genesis 15:13 - El-Roi, "the God who sees").

• What, then, is one to do? Do what God did in Christ:

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Christians are called to do just as Christ did. This imitation (mimesis) of Christ differs vastly from being a hypocrite.

"Become imitators of God, therefore, as dearly beloved children

and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us

and gave himself up for us

as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Rather than joining others in their hypocrisy (synhypokrithesan), Christians are to become symmimetai (cf. Philippians 3:17), some mimics who are faithful followers together in Jesus Christ.

Hypocrisy stinks,

but

imitating Christ

leaves a pleasant fragrance

that proves one faithful

and true to one's calling.

SAYING "YES" EVEN WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE SAYING "NO."

Let's consider on implication of the "Yes! and ..." game

for collaborating with one another offstage.

Saying "yes" is an important way to keep a friendship going. This doesn't mean agreeing with everything another person says. It does mean affirming that you heard what the other person has said. Listening comes first in friendship. Letting your friend talk while you listen helps you discover more about who your friend is.

There will be times, however, when your friend may say something you find disagreeable. What then? How can you say, "yes," when you really mean, "no"? One suggestion is to ask a question. this gives your friend a chance to say more that may help you understand better. It also helps that friend know that you were listening and that you care about what was just said. The way you ask the question can hint that there may be some disagreement, but, by asking instead of telling, you are being affirmative rather than negative.

• Asking a question gives you time to think about what your friend is saying.
• It opens up possibilities for further conversation in a way that a mere "no" probably would not.

When you find it hard to say "yes,"

frame your response as a question instead.

your friend will surely appreciate it.

"Yes" in Christ

The improvisation of Life in the Spirit

.

Because I was confident in the Lord Jesus Christ,

I planned to act so that you might benefit.

I do not make my plans in a worldly manner

so that in the same breath I say,

"Yes, yes" and "No, no."

But as surely as God is faithful,

our message to you is not "Yes" and "No."

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,

who was preached among you ...

was not "Yes" and "No,"

but in him it has always been "Yes."

For no matter how many promises God has made,

they are "Yes" in Christ.

And so through him

the "Amen" is spoken by us

to the glory of God.

II Corinthians 1:15, 17b-21

Life in the Spirit is very reminiscent of good improvisation in theatre. This is not surprising, given that

"we have been made a theatron to the whole universe"

(1 Corinthians 4;9).

How, then, can we rehearse our part

as fellow actors (symmimetai; see Philippians 3:17)

collaborating to present Christ to the world?

"Yes! AND ..."

describes an improvisational "accept & offer" game

that helps make collaboration work, on-stage and off.

Actors accept rather than block offers made by one another while playing a scene together. This means that whenevr one initiates something, by word or action, the other affirms what was said or done, then builds on that with the next thing said or done. Each word or action initiated is considered an offer, affirmation of that offer is considered acceptance. Following this with an offer of one's own in a positive manner means one has said, "Yes, and ..." then this, whatever it may be, as long as it does not negate the initial offer.

The objective of improvisation

is to keep the scene moving forward.

Saying "Yes, and ..." is positive affirmation

that helps the scene to progress,

whereas saying "No" or even "Yes, but ..."

is negation that stalls the scene.

In the book IMPRO, Keith Johnstone compares actors who block each other to mantids as they fight, eating each other in the process: "... if one puts out a hand it is eaten off; if one puts out a leg, it is eaten off, so that it is natural that in the end they destroy each other." This comparison is very similar to what the Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians:

"If you keep on biting and devouring each other,
watch out or you will be destroyed by each other"
(Galatians 5;15).

We are free to act in a manner worthy of our calling. Let us then heed Paul's words,

"For you were called to freedom;

only do not turn your freedom

into an opportunity for the flesh,

but through love serve one another.

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word,

in the statement,

'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' "

(Galatians 5:13-14).

Saying "Yes, and ..." means loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and at the same time, loving our neighbors as ourselves. called onstage in the theater of life to become imitators of God (Ephesians 5;1), we are to act like Christ Jesus by following the example set by him who continually loved others in word and deed. This act follows from being transformed by the Spirit of Christ, which then enables us to be conformed to the character of Christ (cf. Romans 12:1-2; see also Romans 8:28-30). The promises of God are "Yes" in Christ. For God so loved the world that He said "Yes!" and gave His Son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross, only to be raised again to reign on high.

Let us then accept God's offer

with our own "Yes"

and live a life of love,

just as Christ loved us

and gave himself up for us.

SYMMIMESIS: imitation together

The symmimetic idea is simple - we are all "shaped shapers."

We all are fellow-imitators of one another, each one of us (created, I believe, in the image of God) a role-model to others for being human.

Like actors in rehearsal, we influence the others with whom we interact in developing the persona we put on in life.

Each person's persona is, to some degree, formed by and forming others.

This persona, in turn, has some effect on shaping the "inner person" that constitutes one's self.

SYMMIMETIC THERAPY

NOTE: I once considered pursuing a doctoral program at Immaculata University in relation to “The Theology of the body" – perhaps a Doctorate of Psychology with emphasis on practical theology, i.e. symmimetic therapy: how becoming imitators of God together can create a healing community in which individuals may renew and rehearse right relationships by applying insights of the theology of the body. What follows are some thoughts I wrote in anticipation of a conversation with the school's Dean.

symmimetic therapy:
how becoming imitators of God together

creates a healing community

If becoming imitators of God together can create a healing community, what is a healing community?
In a healing community individuals renew and rehearse right relationships.

What does “becoming imitators of God together” mean?
Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us,an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:1-5; New King James Version)

Rather than walking in lust, as do those who “are alienated from God” (Ephesians 4:17-20, New American Bible), Christians are to “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us” (Ephesians 5:2, NAB). Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15, NAB); yet, embodied in flesh, God in Christ did not despise the body: “though he was in the form of God, . . . he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” (Philippians 2:6-7, NAB). He then lived just as humans must live, suffering the limitations of the body yet still able to please God. Those who follow Him are called to do likewise: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (John 12:15, NAB). Having such a graphic role model, Christians must become “imitators of God” by living their lives as Christ did, as “an offering and a sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2, NKJV).

Christianity shows an image of the human body that is indubitably true. It is this true showing that is right, making every relationship a performance in the theater of life: “we have become a spectacle [Greek theatron] to the world...” (1 Corinthians 4:9, New AB). One walking in the Holy Spirit joins with others in becoming imitators of God to create a holy community of healing. Those in such community conduct themselves according to the model we have in Jesus Christ: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, your should also do” (John 13; Phillipians 3:17-18, NAB). Such joining together to become imitators of God in Christ is what I have termed symmimesis, from the Pauline coinage in Greek, symmimetai. Mimesis – imitation or representation or following after – is the dynamic of theatre: the actor (mime, mimic) imitates life in presenting himself as a person following the model of real human being. Christians, following the full human reality of the Lord Jesus Christ, are called to be some mimics ministering healing throughout society.

The Christian show must be philographic, or rather agapographic, showing in how we live with one another, not the lust of man or woman, but the love of God in Christ. Others, seeing our witness, can then come to know God’s love in which we share through Jesus Christ, because it shows: “For in him dwells the whole fullness of the Deity bodily” (Colossians 2:9-10, NAB, italics mine). Thus is John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” so significant – in becoming imitators of God, men and woman discover how the body is not an obstacle to but an essential part of Christian discipleship.

How are right relationships renewed?
Right relationships are renewed by applying insights of the theology of the body.

How does one rehearse a right relationship?
One rehearses a right relationship by living each moment in an attitude of reconciliation. One must always be ready to reform oneself in accordance to being in right relationship with others. Christianity is following Jesus command, “Go and sin no more.” One must always carefully consider what one will do next, now that what has been done is now done. Thus is each action a rehearsal for the next act.

How is my concept of “symmimetic discipleship” related to JPII’s theology of the body?

I will explore what Kenneth Schmitz refers to as “community dramatized”; JPII’s final chapter of The Acting Person, asserts that genuine community can be achieved only by human beings acting as the persons they in fact are and might become (see Schmitz, At the Center of the Human Drama, pp 86-87).

The following excerpt

shows a similarity between my idea of symmesis

and JPII’s concept of “participation and community”:

The notion of “community” expresses the reality [of] “acting and existing together with others” . . . . The human community is strictly related to the experience of the person . . . . We find in it the reality of participation as that essential of the person which enables him to exist and act “together with others” and thus to reach his own fulfillment. Simultaneously, participation as an essential of the person is a constitutive factor of any human community. Because of this essential property the person and the community may be said to coalesce together . . . .

In order to grasp more precisely the meaning of “participation – and that is now our chief aim – we have to look at it from the point of view of the community. Actually, such has been our standpoint from the first, and it is the reason why we have so often used the expression “together with others” in our analyses of the action and the being of the person. The notion of “community” is correlated with this expression while simultaneously it introduces a new plane of action or a new “subjectiveness” in the acting. Indeed, as long as we are speaking of acting or being “together with others” the man-person remains the manifest subject of the acting and being, but once we begin to speak of the community, then what so far has been contained in an adverbial sentence, can now be expressed in substantvial and abstract terms.

All the people existing and acting together are obviously exercising a role in a common action but a different way than when each of them performs an action in its entirety. The new subjectiveness is the share of all the member of a community, or, in a broader sense, of a social group. In fact, it is but a quasi-subjectiveness, because even when the being and acting is realized together with others it is the man-person who is always its proper subject. The human individuals constitute, each of them, the basic order of action. The term “community,” like “society” or “social group,” indicates an order derived from the first one. Being and acting “together with others” does no constitute a new subject of acting but only introduces new relations among the persons who are the real and actual subjects of acting. In all discussions about the community this comment is necessary to avoid misunderstanding. The concept “community,” also in its substantival and abstract sense, seems to come very near the dynamic reality of the person and participation, perhaps even nearer than such notions as “society” or “social group.”

(from “Participation and Community,” The Acting Person, pp 276-277.)

This may tie in, to the Expressive Arts certification program, particularly drama therapy.

FORMING THOUGHTS, REFLECTING LIFE

Of all the books that I have read (and that is many!), four in particular have had a significant affect on me:

Mimetic Reflections:

A Study in Hermeneutics, Theology and Ethics,

by William Schweiker;

Role Playing and Identity:

The Limits of Theatre as Metaphor,

by Bruce Wilshire;

Improvisation:

Drama of Christian Ethics,

by Samuel Wells;

and

The Drama of Doctrine:

A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology,

by Kevin VanHoozer.

The first book introduced me to the notion of mimesis

through a theological discussion of Derrida, Girard, Gadamer, Ricoeur, and Kierkegaard;

the second book introduced me to phenomenological philosophy

through theoretical discussion of theatre, my life-long passion;

the third book confirmed my intuitions

regarding the application of Keith Johnstone's ideas on improvisation to Christian life;

and the fourth book authenticated that confirmation

by radically applying the theatre metaphor to Christian doctrine.

Now I hope to bring it all full circle

by drawing on all four books to express my own thinking

regarding the actual practice of "putting on Christ."