Introduction: Episode 2
Maps for Moving Ahead
This idea of religion as a series of maps comes from my mentor, the late Harvard professor Gordon Kaufman. Dr. Kaufman used the metaphor of maps to describe how religion is used by its believers.
“Charts and models are always our constructions of a reality which is too immense, or otherwise inaccessible, to grasp without their aid. . . Whether this accurately represents the ‘actual structure’. . .no one can say; and it really does not matter at all. The map is a good one if it enables us to get where we are trying to go. . .” (Gordon D. Kaufman, An Essay on Theological Method, 1979, p. 45; emphasis, mine)
Religion’s enduring power lies in its effectiveness in getting us where we’re trying to go, as we face the vast unknown of our lives.
A map.
The first maps you learned to use were in grade school, those flour-and-salt maps of our state’s starring features. From these you learned the locations of the Deschutes and Willamette Rivers, the glorious shape of Mt. Hood, the expanse of Oregon’s high desert, the depth of Crater Lake.
But even at that young age, you understood those maps worked as models. As a flour-and-salt model, your Crater Lake wasn’t meant to hold water – your map would have turned to mush!
Already at that grade school age, you were learning the unique challenge of maps: they depict something that is certainly real, but they don’t look like the reality they depict! That’s okay – that’s how they work. As Professor Kaufman said, “The map is a good one if it enables us to get where we are trying to go.”
Map Mentors
Maps are symbols for something real. Yet, because they aren’t photographic images but complex symbols, you need some help to use them.
Remember the time when you were hiking in the sundrenched Glen Canyon National Recreation Area? You and your friends were counting on getting down the canyon walls to cool off in the Colorado River. In fact, you knew about that river by seeing numerous photos. But those realistic photos were useless for what you had to do next.
As you approached the canyon walls, they were too steep to descend. Fortunately, one of your friends was an outdoor expert from his years working for the Department of Natural Resources. He pulled out a specialized paper map – a topographic map. By reading its contour lines, he determined exactly where you could descend.
You made your way down to the water and splashed around with joy.
The topo map was ideal for guiding your way to water. But, as well, you needed your friend’s expertise.
Misunderstanding Maps?
Now you read a variety of maps – the latest ones are special rock-climbing maps with difficulty numbers, and bolts required, and where there’s troublesome shade. These maps take de-coding skills you learned from fellow adventurers.
But think about this: what if you headed out to climb, and discarded your rock-climbing map because it didn’t look like the wall you faced? You didn’t understand its code? You didn’t have someone to show you how to use its rock-climbing symbols?
Dumb, huh?
Well, let’s consider religion. Did you participate long enough in a faith community to learn to read its maps? Could it be that you discarded centuries of wisdom, strength, and inspiration – centuries of maps – before you learned to read them?
You left church as a teenager, thinking, “Religion is about these strange, unbelievable things! God on a throne, angels in heaven, the Red Sea parted, and the Jordan River held back! And what about that wandering sage who changes water to wine, and heals with a word or a touch? I look around the world I live in and there’s nothing that looks like that!”
The Primary Focus is the Future
But maps don’t look like or replicate reality, so you need help in using them. Whether progressive or deeply conservative, religious folks learn to read their maps through participation in a faith community. They are organically tutored through hearing sermons, participating in Bible studies, reading inspirational books, singing music, and joining in rituals.
And yes, I know, we have some dear friends who say that the Bible’s stories do look like reality – that these stories are historically true or will one day be vindicated by science.
We do have friends who insist that Noah’s Ark is somewhere in Turkey, waiting to be dug up!
But don’t be so quick to dismiss them or their faith. For, if you observe closely what they’re up to, their primary focus is not on some unbelievable past and trying to prove it to you. Their real focus is on the future. They’re trying to discern how to shape their lives in ways that bless our world.
They use their sacred symbols as maps that guide their way through this wilderness.
(Continued December 24, Introduction: Episode 3.)