Tradition:

Mediating and Responding to Revelation

September 18, 2013

With these challenges, [my boyfriend and I] have come up with actions and steps to try to bridge the gaps of distance. While some of these things have worked, others have not and we are constantly updating the ways in which we engage with one another.

~Halcyon Apy, My Traditions

Essay

Mediating Revelation
That which is received is received according to the mode of the receiver.

Mediating Revelation
That which is received is received according to the mode of the receiver. As embodied creatures, the primary way in which we come to know our world is through symbols. We learn through language, concepts, images, and metaphors. It is through these symbols that God is able to mediate the sharing of divine life that is the substance of revelation. (KC, p. 35)

Mediating Revelation
Symbol: An object that mediates the presence of something else.

Scene from Amadeus (1984)

Mediating Revelation
Symbol: An object that mediates the presence of something else.
At certain times in our lives, Gods gracious presence becomes manifest in our lives as God communicates Gods subjectivity through objectivity. Through concrete events in our lives, or concrete persons, or particular wordsvery ordinary thingsGod becomes present and palpable to us in all Gods incomprehensible, inexpressible, mysterious reality. (Stephen Bevans)

Mediating Revelation

Mediating Revelation

Mediating Revelation

Mediating Revelation

Mediating Revelation

Mediating Revelation
Tradition: The dynamic faith of the Church in its entirety. Traditions: Different elements of tradition, some of which will have enduring value and others which will not.

Responding to Revelation
Rainer Maria Rilke

You must change your life.

Responding to Revelation
When we hear good news we respond by action and we share that news. In Christianity, our response to revelation can be an action or it can be sharing. Most of the time, when we respond to revelation we are simultaneously acting and sharing the news.

Tradition: Mediation and Response

What is tradition? It is a long history of ways to bridge the distance between creation and God.

Tradition mediates divine revelation through symbols. Tradition responds to divine revelation through our participation in the life of faith, hope, and love.

Tradition: Mediation and Response

The Obedience of faith is to be given to God who reveals, an obedience by which humankind commits their entire selves freely to God, offering the full submission of the intellect and will to God who reveals, and freely assenting to the truth revealed by God. (DV 5) Tradition: The dynamic faith of the Church in its entirety.

With these challenges, [my boyfriend and I] have come up with actions and steps to try to bridge the gaps of distance. While some of these things have worked, others have not and we are constantly updating the ways in which we engage with one another.

~Halcyon Apy, My Traditions