Overlapping Worlds at Cana
Mar. 10th, 2005 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosWriting a paper is a funny thing. . . I usually make two or three or four false starts, searching for just the right point of entry, the golden thread that will lead me through the labyrinth of my own mind and research into the heart of the issue.
Two nights ago, I posted that the structure of my presentation for the final class session didn't need to be the structure for my final paper. It turns out that the structure for my presentation is far better than what I had in mind for the paper. And I feel almost joyous as I use as my entry point my oldest archetypal role: that of the Journeyer Between Worlds.
"The closer I looked at the story of The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), the more complicated this brief passage became. Johannine theology, symbol and irony, Old Testament references and antecedents, gaps in the story itself, and the ambiguity of a key phrase of the Greek text all combine to provide an exegete with more than enough material for study. How could I make sense of it all? How could I fit together all the puzzle pieces to form a single, coherent overview of this long-familiar but subtly complicated story?
"I finally realized that “making it all fit together” was a hopeless task, one which betrayed the essence of what was going on at Cana in the first place. The story of Cana is a story of worlds overlapping, of the old just beginning to be transformed into the new, of people caught up in multiple dramas of doxa* In the world of modern scholarship, the narrative of Cana teases us with wordplay we can never fully unravel, whispers hints about the mysteries of mariology and sacramentalism, and delivers a flat summation of the episode which may or may not satisfy. There is no “one whole.” To begin to understand Cana, it is necessary to journey through each world in turn, trying to understand each on its own terms. Only then can a gentle synthesis be sought, one which does not force a comforting but false simplification on this mystery play."
* doxa is a Greek word which can most simply be translated as "glory" (most of you are familiar with The Doxology, yes?) -- but like most Greek words it can have shades of meaning, depending on context. At Cana, Jesus' miracle demonstrated his "doxa" to his disciples, with the result that "they believed in him." But "doxa" was also at issue in the crisis of the lack of wine, and in the social implications of being sought after for help.
I am now looking forward to writing this paper.
Two nights ago, I posted that the structure of my presentation for the final class session didn't need to be the structure for my final paper. It turns out that the structure for my presentation is far better than what I had in mind for the paper. And I feel almost joyous as I use as my entry point my oldest archetypal role: that of the Journeyer Between Worlds.
"The closer I looked at the story of The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), the more complicated this brief passage became. Johannine theology, symbol and irony, Old Testament references and antecedents, gaps in the story itself, and the ambiguity of a key phrase of the Greek text all combine to provide an exegete with more than enough material for study. How could I make sense of it all? How could I fit together all the puzzle pieces to form a single, coherent overview of this long-familiar but subtly complicated story?
"I finally realized that “making it all fit together” was a hopeless task, one which betrayed the essence of what was going on at Cana in the first place. The story of Cana is a story of worlds overlapping, of the old just beginning to be transformed into the new, of people caught up in multiple dramas of doxa* In the world of modern scholarship, the narrative of Cana teases us with wordplay we can never fully unravel, whispers hints about the mysteries of mariology and sacramentalism, and delivers a flat summation of the episode which may or may not satisfy. There is no “one whole.” To begin to understand Cana, it is necessary to journey through each world in turn, trying to understand each on its own terms. Only then can a gentle synthesis be sought, one which does not force a comforting but false simplification on this mystery play."
* doxa is a Greek word which can most simply be translated as "glory" (most of you are familiar with The Doxology, yes?) -- but like most Greek words it can have shades of meaning, depending on context. At Cana, Jesus' miracle demonstrated his "doxa" to his disciples, with the result that "they believed in him." But "doxa" was also at issue in the crisis of the lack of wine, and in the social implications of being sought after for help.
I am now looking forward to writing this paper.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-11 06:09 am (UTC)(If I can, I mean.)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-11 12:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-11 01:40 pm (UTC):-)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-11 01:42 pm (UTC)I'll let everyone know when I'm done, and if I'm as happy with it at the end as I am now, I'll make it available, if people are still interested.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-11 02:08 pm (UTC)